Skin Tip 7 is looking at how skin cancers can develop...the journey begins with sunburn in our youth.
WHAT IS SUNBURN?
When an overdose of ultraviolet radiation kills the top layer of healthy skin cells there is serious damage done. When the cells are dying the skin is inflamed and sore. Later on the dead skin flakes and peels off. Water blisters from sunburn are serious, and are a recognised risk factor for melanoma!
SUNBURN CAUSES SKIN CANCER
Sunburn is in effect a 'severe radiation injury', one where the sun has overwhelmed the skin's natural defences and killed and damaged cells.
Fortunately, cells are good at repairing themselves and many recover.
The problem is that cumulative exposure to sunlight over a lifetime can cause irreparable changes to cells.
Severely sun-damaged cells will begin to grow abnormally, making precancerous bumps and crusts on the skin.
If/when the precancerous cells 'flip out and lose control' they start to grow over and through the healthy cells around them, damaging healthy skin, that's a skin cancer.
DNA mutations in skin cells are like random eggs; they might 'hatch' a cancer next month .... or maybe in 20 years, the timeline is unpredictable. We don't know when.
We do know that once the skin has started to make precancerous spots it's a signal that the skin's natural sun protection has been worn out and cancers are likely to become more frequent; it is like when sunlight wears off the UV protection on your car and starts to chew the paint off. It's possible that one more overdose of sunshine might be all it takes to tip the balance that causes a new skin cancer to grow ... and that's a good reason for extra care.
Sun-damaged skin LOVES sunscreen
· sunscreen is even better for sun-damaged skin than it is for normal skin because sun-damaged skin has lost its 'protective layers' and needs helping hands.
· Avoid the sun between 10 and 4pm
· Reapply sunscreen 20 minutes after your first application and continue to reapply every 2 hrs, more frequently if sweating or swimming.
SOLAR REHABILITATION; Hope for severely sun-damaged skin
With a dedicated treatment program, even severely sun-damaged skin begins to look and behave more like healthy skin.
Treating precancerous skin before it becomes cancer saves on the discomfort and inconvenience of surgery.
KIWISKIN - Haiku #2
easy on sun shine
saves a stitch in time saves nine
skin without within
What Is a Haiku?
Haiku is a form of Japanese poetry made of short, unrhymed lines that evoke natural imagery. Haiku can come in a variety of different formats of short verses, though the most common is a three-line poem with a 5-7-5 syllable pattern.
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