No Really, I NEVER Burn...

I have worked with kids in residential treatment centers for a while now...for a long while actually. Every spring I tell the kids they need to wear sunblock and every spring hear the same thing, "No seriously Polly, I NEVER get sun burned." I let the kids who have darker skin tones (and by darker I mean African-American) go ahead and skip the sunscreen. The rest, however, are not allowed out to play until they bathe themselves in the stuff.

Then I am gone for a day or two. And the other staff, newer to the field of working with teens from other parts of the country, let them run and play in the 4,000 ft altitude, dry air sun that they are not use to. And I return to work, and get to listen to the shock in their voices as they tell me, again, that they NEVER burn, despite the evidence proving them wrong. Even the kids of Native American and Latino descent are shocked to see that they too, are pink, sore and sometimes blistered.

Right. In Chicago, I bet you don't. But here, it's a totally different story. The other thing you don't know is that in Chicago (or Kentucky, or pretty much ANYWHERE else from whence you hail) you are still, despite a lack of a sun burn, doing damage to your skin.

I would love to have my teenage skin back (minus all the breaking out.) No wrinkles, no sun spots, tiny little pores. Alas, I didn't start really using sunscreen til I was in my late 20's. By then, I had multiple sun spots and the wrinkles were settling in.

I now wear sunscreen every day. So far this year I have even remembered my hands. Today I learned that for the first hike of the year, SPF 15 is not quite enough. So noted. Although not a bad burn I am not pleased that  it happened at all. Health isn't just about exercising and eating right. If your skin rots away from cancer, all the good food in the world can't and won't save you.

I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say, "If I'm going to die anyway, I may as well look good!" and use that as a reason not to care for their skin. Skin cancer is a brutal, horrific way to die. It generally likes to leap to your brain, causing dementia and basically making you go crazy, THEN you die. Ever  watched someone fight cancer? Any kind? Go wander through Huntsman Cancer Institute, then ask yourself if that's how you want to go. Think you'll look good, with a nice tan, when you're dying of skin cancer? Think again. Don't like the feel of sunscreen on your skin, or the smell? Again, wander through Huntsman and see how comfortable the people are, and take particular note of the aromas. Yeah, I can see how sun screen would bother you.

I'm not saying you have to stay pale all year round. I certainly don't. I'm just asking you to be smart. Wear sunscreen. You'll still get color, and you also greatly decrease your chances of getting skin cancer. Take care of ALL of your organs, especially your biggest: your skin.