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Home » Health Articles » Fun In The Sun Protect Yourself First

Fun in the Sun? Protect Yourself First

Social practices and their meanings change over time. Until recently, the suntan created by excessive exposure was considered a sign of poverty. A suntan indicated that you spent your days toiling in the sun. Wealthier people had the luxury of remaining indoors and out of the sun's intense, direct heat.

Twenty years ago, sun-bathing was one of the country's favorite pastimes, and people traveled to the beaches and other water sources to have fun in the sun. People of all ages in Miami—from toddlers in polka-dot bikinis to retired men soaking up the sun in beach chairs—were found sun-bathing. It was, and still is, fun to go out in the sun, but you need to be aware of the affects sun-bathing has on your skin and how you can protect yourself.

According researchers at the MayoClinic.com, there is real concern that sun damage could lead to skin cancer. The MayoClinic.com states:

"The warm golden cast of the sun is very alluring. And many people can't resist spending hours beneath its glow.

But not all of the sun's rays are pleasing. Ultraviolet (UV) light, the invisible but intense rays of the sun, damages your skin. Some of those harmful effects—such as suntan or sunburn—are visible right away. But other skin changes, including liver spots or deep wrinkles, appear and worsen over time. With repeated sun exposure, skin damage can even progress into cancerous tumors."

This is how the sun damages your skin and what you can do about it.

The first and most prominent effects of sun-bathing will be sun spots, suntan, and sunburn. Remember, sunlight is comprised of ultraviolet (UV) rays which directly attack your skin, making you prone to hazards like skin cancer.

Sun-bathing also places your eyes at risk of damage from UV rays and can cause cataracts.

The sun can cause your skin to age quickly. The sun's rays penetrate the skin and cause extensive damage. This damage appears as wrinkles, freckles, or light spots and can cause give your skin a coarse texture.

Your blood vessels and capillaries can sustain damage from the sun, making you a high risk for developing tumors. Your skin might be affected by actinic kerotoses or sun spots.

Research has also proven that overexposure to UV rays releases chemicals into your bloodstream. These chemicals, most of them endorphins, are capable of making you feel "high." This feeling can actually lead to a sun-bathing addiction!

Even though there are cosmetics and other forms of treatment for skin damage caused by sun, the results are seldom satisfactory. The best treatment is prevention.

Know the approximate time when the sun will be at its peak. Usually between 11am and 3pm, you should not sun-bathe. Remember that, because of the thinner atmosphere, the sun's rays can be more damaging in high altitudes. Sometimes, even clothing is not enough to protect your skin, especially while swimming.

Take precautions; don't allow sun-bathing to take its toll on your skin. Protect your skin by following a few precautions before you expose it to the sun.

There are alternatives to sun-bathing. The most popular alternative is using artificial UV rays. Tanning in a sun bed gives you a chance to feel relaxed while you tan, but since it uses artificial rays, doesn't require you to face the sun's rays.

When out in the sun, always wear proper clothing and a hat large enough to protect your face, eyes, ears, and the back of your neck. Proper coverage will significantly reduce sun spots. Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV rays.

Apply a sunscreen to your skin for prolonged sun exposure. Choose a sunscreen product based on its Sun Protecting Factor (SPF). The higher the SPF ranking, the more protective the product will be. The higher numbers should be applied to people who live in high altitudes or who have fair skin. People with darker skin tones can choose a lower SPF product. To facilitate usage, sunscreen products are produced in the form of gels, creams, lotions, and alcohol (spray) solutions.

Sun-bathing creams and oils are also available. Don't confuse these products with sunscreen products. These creams act as lubricants and protect your skin from dryness, but do not provide any protection from the sun. In fact, when used exclusively, they often increase the potential for UV ray exposure.

However, creams like Lumnaderm(tm) have been developed after extensive research. Lumnaderm(tm) fights discolored skin and rejuvenates it to give you a fresher more youthful look. When used correctly this product, can be an effective tool to treat skin damages caused by the sun's rays. Lumnaderm(tm) is available from better online retailers like Amazon.com and the BODeStore.com (http://www.bodestore.com).

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

A Simple Formula for Success

Leaders in the business world need public relations big time, and they show it every day.

How? By staying in touch with their most important external audiences and by carefully monitoring their perceptions about the company, audience member feelings about hot topics at issue, and the behaviors that inevitably follow.

Could there be an angle here for your business?

What I mean is, once you interact with, then learn what that key target audience of yours believes about you and your organization, a corrective public relations goal – a specific behavior change -- can be established.

Which then requires that you identify a strategy. There are just three choices here, create opinion where none exists, change existing opinion, or reinforce it.

It's a logical sequence. With your goal and strategy now set, you need persuasive messages with a good chance of moving perceptions (and thus behaviors) in your organization's direction. But you must make sure the messages talk not only to the current topic at issue, but to any misconceptions or inaccuracies encountered during your information gathering, and to any problems that might be brewing.

What will you do with your new message? You will carry it to the attention of your priority audience. You'll use communications tactics that are credible in the eyes of the receiver, and effective in reaching him or her. You'll also want tactics that stand a good chance of moving opinion in that target audience, on the topic at issue, in your direction.

Fortunately, there are many communications tactics to choose from: newsworthy announcements, letters-to-the-editor, news releases, radio and newspaper interviews, brochures, speeches and on and on.

Now, you're back to the monitoring mode as you interact once again with members of the key target audience. With your communications tactics hammering away, you keep one eye peeled for signs of target audience opinion shifts in your direction. The other eye, (and ears) stay alert for any references by print and broadcast media, or other local thoughtleaders to your carefully prepared message.

The bottom line is, are perceptions and behaviors within the target audience being modified? If not, adjustments to your communications tactics – often a big increase in, and wider selection -- must be made. Your message may also need to be sharpened and its factual basis strengthened.

Gradually, you'll begin to notice changes in opinion starting to appear along with a growing receptiveness to those messages of yours. This is real progress.

Should you still need encouragement to hang in there with your brand new public relations program, consider this. A single issue – for example, a potentially dangerous, unattended perception among a key audience -- can spread like wildfire nudging any business closer to failure than success.

That statistic alone should make you feel pretty good about public relations.

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