Sun protection for skin bleachers

The summer sun is sizzling. Dark-skinned people have moderate protection against the sun's harmful rays, but skin bleachers, like caucasians, lighter-skinned people, albinos and people with vitiligo, need more protection from the sun than darker people do.

This article aims to protect everyone, including wearers of bleached skin, from further skin damage and potential disease; it does not encourage skin bleaching.

How skin bleaching works

We are dark-skinned because we have the dark-brown pigment, melanin. The more melanin produced, the darker we look. Lighter skin indicates less melanin than darker-skinned people. But melanin, apart from making us black, protects skin from the sun's ultraviolet rays which can cause cancer.

Bleaching products (like steroids, hydroxy-quinone, mercury products, toothpaste, household bleach, toilet-bowl cleaner and curry powder) applied to the skin help us to get lighter skin by killing skin cells which produce melanin.

However, the natural protection offered by melanin is limited and dark-skinned people also need some sun protection. In theory, by reducing melanin through skin-bleaching, we increase the body's exposure to sunlight and increase our chances of skin damage (premature skin-ageing, sunburn) and cancers (melanoma).

Sunscreens to the rescue

Sunscreens prevent harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from penetrating skin. Some sunscreens, called sun-blocks, reflect UV rays away from skin. Of course, good old sun-avoidance activities - using umbrellas, limiting time spent in direct sunlight, applying tints and curtains to windows, and wearing protective clothing - constitute sun protection too.

The sunscreen's SPF is a number which describes the degree of protection it offers against UVB. Theoretically, sunscreen with SPF-15 indicates that the wearer of that sunscreen may remain 15 times longer in sun without burning, when compared to someone wearing no sunscreen. The higher the SPF, the greater the protection the sunscreen offers. But time of day, location, weather conditions and amount of sunscreen applied can affect accuracy of this calculation.

Sunscreen shopping 101

☛ Sunscreen should offer protection against UVA and UVB. Look among the ingredients for an absorber like octinoxate, octyl-salicylate, octocrylene, avobenzone, oxybenzone, and a reflector like titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. Titanium dioxide products are really very effective, but do not blend well into darker skins, and appear very obvious.

☛ Sample the product on the skin to determine how it looks and feels.

☛ Get SPF 30 or higher since research indicates that most people get around half the sun protection indicated by the SPF.

☛ Get a water-resistant or waterproof product if you plan to go into water.

☛ Reapply sunscreen after swimming, bathing, perspiring heavily or after drying with a towel.

☛ Apply sunscreen 20 minutes before going out, and thickly and frequently (like every hour) when staying outdoors.

Dr Dahlia McDaniel is a pharmacist with a doctorate in public health. She is the chief executive officer of two pharmacies and a medical practice in Kingston. Email yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.