Have you heard those glorious people share their beauty secrets and tips? Yes it includes a variety of homemade face packs with fruits and other natural ingredients and a range of products from their trusted brands. Very well. But have you noticed that almost all of them seem to name some sunscreen lotion or cream with a certain number of SPF? So honestly, what is the hype about?
At this point let me introduce to you the concept of UV rays or the ultraviolet rays which are electromagnetic radiations that reach the surface of the earth by virtue of the ozone layer depletion. The holes that have developed in the ozone layer cannot restrict the harmful rays that come from the Sun and therefore it exposes us to a number of health conditions, mainly skin diseases resulting from over exposure to UV rays. Realizing the effects of this risk can only prove to be beneficial for us as the conditions it might trigger are pretty serious cases of life and death scenarios. The risks include skin cancer which is melanoma and non melanoma, skin damage, premature aging of the skin, cataracts and other parts of eye are damaged, suppression of immune system etc. If the very prospect of it scares you too then you might be doing yourself good by choosing to read this article.
Every year more and more cases of skin cancers are being diagnosed all over the world and though expose to harmful sun rays is not the only cause behind it, it is certainly one of the leading ones. The most common form of skin cancer which is melanoma, is quite frequent among the people between the age group of 15-29, so mostly adolescents and young adults who are used to a prolonged exposure to Sun due to the various activities and jobs they take up. Less deadly than melanoma is the non melanoma skin cancers but nevertheless equally serious and harmful. Other very common forms of skin damage include actinic keratoses and premature aging which can make the skin thick, wrinkled and leathery. So it is primarily due to these reasons that SPF lotions and creams are recommended by dermatologists and even beauticians and actresses and models more frequently nowadays. In fact scientists have also found that over exposure to the radiation may damage the immune system and the skin’s natural defenses. UV rays also cause a variety of skin conditions to aggravate which are systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren’s syndrome, sinear usher syndrome, rosacea, dermatomyositis, Darier’s disease, kindler weary syndrome etc. The varied range of eye damages it can cause also includes welder’s flash or arc eye, also leading to cataracts, pterygium or pinguecila formation. But you can claim some protection for your eye with ordinary sunglasses.
However, though sunscreen protection has been largely recommended to combat the UV radiation related skin problems, a definite conclusion to whether or not they really help or how much or if the use of it themselves is more harmful than exposure to direct sun rays, has not been reached. Researchers argue that though it is advised that everybody uses sunscreen to protect them from the direct rays from the sun which can push you towards life threatening conditions, some of the or in fact most of the sunscreen products are known to be containing really harmful toxic chemicals that itself can bring harm upon your skin just as the nonchalant UV rays. So whether or not it is eventually benefitting you at all is still an unsolved mystery. But what can be definitely said about this is that, UV rays pose a serious threat to your well being in a million different ways, there is no doubt about that. So we have to use a sunscreen protection in order to save our skin and eyes, it is therefore recommended that instead of doing away with sunscreen products, we concentrate on improving it by getting rid of the toxic chemicals in it. Here we can offer you a piece of good news and that is, there are hypoallergenic sunscreen products available in the market, which are often sold under the tag of ‘hypoallergenic’ or recommended for use in case of sensitive skin. You can always go for those and I suggest it is safer to opt for those as they are manufactured keeping in mind the sensitivity of your skin as it is ideal for allergic skins and therefore does not include some of those toxic elements in its composition.
SPF which stands for Sun Protection Factor also comes with a range of numbers as such as SPF 30, SPF 50 and SPF 100 etc. Now it is a common misconception which is also very popular at the same time that the higher the number the SPF, the greater or longer the protection. Well, guess what, even though a higher number of SPF provides a better protection but only by a very minimal unnoticeable range. For example if SPF 30 protects you 97%, SPF 50 will protect you 98% but nonetheless the more the SPF, the greater the burden for your skin. So if you are outside under the sun for a long time, SPF 30 or 50 is good enough and there is absolutely no need of opting for SPF 100. You can also make sure that it comes under the label of broad spectrum as it provides both UVA or skin aging and UVB or skin burning protection.
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