Sunscreen Facts

Sun block is a powerful tool to help keep your body safe from getting annoying and possibly dangerous sunburns, which over time can cause serious health problems. Though for most people, it’s more about avoiding looking red and feeling the terrible pain that comes with a sunburn. Additionally, even if the sun doesn’t burn you, long term exposure without some form of protection can leave your skin feeling dry and cracked. To prevent this there is a huge array of different sun blocks. This may seem like a great thing, but there is a lot of contradictory information surrounding the actual reality of these products. Here are a couple sunscreen facts to keep you head straight when you go out to purchase these products.

Probably the most contested factor for any sun block is the SPF rating. SPF stands for ‘sun protection factor,’ which is simply a measurement of how much sun is blocked for a specified area. It’s a good rating to get a sense of how generally effective sun blocks are between brands and different products. However, it may not be the best way to judge whether or not a certain product will keep the sun from burning you. Though certainly lower SPF’s will have a less of an effect, the higher number models will not necessarily keeping you from being burned at all. They’re certainly better, but after a certain point, the numbers start to lose their meaning.

Sun block works at blocking UV rays using a number of different methods. There are three basic types of compounds that are included in sun block and each product may have one or more of the three types. The first are inorganic compounds that scatter light preventing UV rays from hitting the skin. The latter two are organic compounds that either absorb light or scatter it. These elements work in concert with differing levels of concentration within a particular line. Thus it’s clear why SPF is hard to rate, depending upon the make up of UV blocking chemicals.

Finally, sun block is recommended by the American Cancer Society to help prevent skin cancer. In other words – sun block works to help prevent skin related diseases. Not only does everyone already know that they can make themselves more comfortable with sun block, but medical doctors agree that it will also help prevent diseases as well. However, though helpful, sun block can let in certain UV rays, which can cause melanoma, so it’s never a perfect shield.