Summer and sunscreen: What you need to know
Summer is on the way and the weather is quickly heating up in Montreal.
That also means it's the season of painful, red and itchy sunburns. But, luckily, those burns can easily be avoided.
CBC Montreal's Homerun spoke to Dr. Beatrice Wang, a dermatologist and the director of the melanoma clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital, for some advice.
Her number one tip? Apply sunscreen daily.
"We have to make it a daily habit," Wang said. "In Montreal, the weather changes all the time so whether it looks cloudy or not, go ahead and put your sunscreen on every day."
What kind of sunscreen should you look for when shopping?
Wang recommends using SPF 60, because most people do not apply enough to get full coverage. However, she does say that when simply going to and from the car, or running errands, SPF 20 or 30 is sufficient.
"You may think that's overkill," she said. "But you're being exposed and doing it on a daily basis."
Most importantly, Wang advises to use sunscreen that protects you from both UVA and UVB.
How much should you put on?
Wang says that according to studies, most people are using half the amount of sunscreen that they actually need.
"To get the rating of the SPF that's on the bottle, you have to put on a fairly thick layer," Wang said. "It's two milligrams per centimetre square. That's a lot, it's very thick. It's uncomfortable, and people complain about the stickiness."
So what does that look like in practice? For your face, it means applying a generous teaspoon-sized amount of sunscreen.
What are best practices for kids and sunscreen?
Physical protection, whenever possible, is best for kids because they are constantly on the move, according to Wang. That means wearing long-sleeve shirts or rash guards at the beach, a hat and longer shorts.
She also recommends using lotion for the first application of the day, so that parents have a better idea of how much they are using but that spray sunscreen is great for simple re-application throughout the day.
Wang also cautions against the label "waterproof" — reminding parents that sunscreen still needs to be re-applied as soon as you get out of the water.
How protective are natural or organic sunscreens?
Wang says that if a sunscreen bottle does not have a DIN — a drug information number — that means it hasn't been tested by Health Canada or a reliable source to show it has SPF coverage.
Message not getting through
Despite talking about sunscreen every year, Wang fears the message about sun protection is not getting through.
Last year, the Canadian Cancer Society released statistics that show that rates of melanoma continue to increase for men and women.
Wang says the main thing to look out for is changes to your skin, such as pimples or lesions that don't heal, a new mole or a change to an old mole.
"I don't mean to frighten everybody, but sometimes you need to shake them to make them aware," Wang said.
