Protect Your Skin

The heat is on and it doesn't look like we're going to be saved from it any time soon. While we don't have a solution for cooling the sun down, there is one to keep you from burning that can lead to skin cancer. KSAN's Jason Calder spoke with a local dermatologist for some skin saving tips and has more.

The first calendar day of summer isn't for another week. However that's not stopping mother nature and her good friend the sun from wreaking havoc on your skin.

Dr. Kay Johnston, M.D./Dermatologist: "There's one melanoma an hour right now and we're seeing more and more of that. We're seeing melanomas coming in, in young kids."

Local dermatologist, Dr. Kay Johnston, said it's critical to apply sunblock on you and your child 15 minutes before you go outside and reapply every hour if you're in water and every two hours if you're not.

She said, "You want to let it soak in. You need to put it on about 15-30 minutes prior to going outside so that it has a chance to actually be effective when you get out there. A lot of times people will blame the sunscreen for not being effective when in fact they go out to wherever they're going to have a picnic or whatever. They set everything up, get the kids all ready and then they put the sunscreen on."

and just because a sunblock has a higher SPF does not mean it will protect you longer.

"A lot of people think that 45 is triple as good as 15 and SPF 15 only protects about 95 percent of UV rays. SPF of 30 would be about 97, 45 about 98 percent so it's not exponential," said Dr. Johnston.

There have also been questions raised about using bug repellent and sunblock at the same time. Dr. Johnston said her suggestion is to apply the sunblock first.

She said, "If you apply the sunscreen first let that soak in, let that get into your skin, then apply the deet. You don't have quite the chemical reaction that you would if you had put them on at the same time."

Protecting you and your children from harmful UV rays will not only keep you from getting burned but it could also save your life. Dr. Johnston said in addition to sunblock, you should also wear sunglasses and hats to protect yourself. Several companies make sun protective clothing that look like regular garments but have an spf of 30 or more.