Protecting Your Skin: The Facts, The Risks, and What to Do

Author(s)
Omobolanle Agboola, MSc
Family splashing water in a lake

Protecting Your Skin: The Facts, The Risks, and What to Do

Summer is finally here! Spending time outdoors is a fantastic way to stay physically active, reduce stress, and gather around our family, friends, and loved ones. For some, it is the perfect time for a long bike ride, a day at the beach, or a group hike.

This content is not meant to spoil the fun, but rather to serve as a reminder to keep safe while you have the best time outdoors. To safeguard your skin against damage and reduce the likelihood of developing skin cancer, it is important to understand the risks and take action.

The Facts: Understanding UV Rays

Most skin cancers are caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. Protection from UV rays is important all year round, not just in the summer.

  • UV rays are an invisible kind of radiation that comes from the sun, tanning beds, and sunlamps.
  • UV rays penetrate and damage skin cells, which significantly increases your risk of developing skin cancers, including melanoma, basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and squamous cell carcinoma.
  • The facts are clear: unprotected sun exposure is dangerous. In fact, deaths due to melanoma are projected to increase by about 68% from 2020 to 2040.

The Risks: What the Research Shows

A recent study examined the direct link between skin cancer types and sun exposure habits. The study revealed significant disparities in sun exposure and photoprotection habits between skin cancer patients and a healthy control group.

Compared to the healthy control group, patients with skin cancer:

  • Had a lighter skin phototype.
  • Reported higher levels of occupational and leisure sun exposure.
  • Spent more vacation weeks outdoors when they were younger.
  • Reported not believing in or taking skin cancer seriously as a health threat.
  • Found sunscreen uncomfortable and unpleasant to use.

These behavioral analyses reveal suboptimal photoprotection habits among those with skin cancer. This highlights a critical need for targeted prevention strategies to improve everyday sun protection practices, particularly among populations with high sun exposure.

Sun Safety Tips: How to Protect Yourself

Here are practical tips to work and play outside without raising your skin cancer risk. You can easily integrate these into your daily summer routine:

  • Assess the UV Index Daily: Check your local UV index daily for a forecast of the expected risk of overexposure. An intensity level of 3 or higher is an indication that you need to protect your skin.
  • Avoid sunlamps and tanning beds.
  • Minimize Peak Hour Exposure: Try to limit your time in the sun during peak hours, especially between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM.
  • Wear Protective Clothing: Cover up with tightly woven clothing and broad-brimmed hats to shade your face, head, ears, and neck.
  • Protect Your Eyes: Wear wrap-around sunglasses that block both UVA and UVB rays.
  • Apply (and Reapply) Sunscreen: Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher before you go outside. Don't forget your lips! Reapply every 2 hours, and right after sweating or swimming.
  • Keep babies under six months out of direct sunlight, and do not apply sunscreen to their skin.
Chart with the categories listing UV Range from less than 2 to 11+ and categorizing the exposure to UV as Low to Extreme, going up from low to high numbers

Source: epa.gov

CDC. (2026, March 4). Sun Safety Facts. Skin Cancer. https://www.cdc.gov/skin-cancer/sun-safety/index.html 

Commissioner, O. of the. (2024). Should You Put Sunscreen on Infants? Not Usually. FDA. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/should-you-put-sunscreen…;

Koumaki, D., Evangelou, G., Gregoriou, S., Kouloumvakou, S., Manios, A., Katoulis, A., Zacharopoulos, G. V., Chernyshov, P. V., Papadakis, M., Kassotakis, D., Manios, G. A., Rovithi, E., Zografaki, K., Doxastaki, A., Gkiaouraki, I., Petrou, D., Marazaki, F., Mylonakis, D., de Bree, E., & Krasagakis, K. (2024). Skin Cancer Knowledge, Sun Exposure, Photoprotection Behavior, and Perceived Barriers Associated with Skin Cancer Types in a Greek Cohort: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Island of Crete. Cancers, 16(24), 4226. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16244226 

UMN Masonic Cancer Center. (n.d.). Sun safety: Why it matters and how to protect your skin every day | Masonic Cancer Center. Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://cancer.umn.edu/news/sun-safety-why-it-matters-and-how-protect-y…;

UV Index Search | Envirofacts | US EPA. (n.d.). Retrieved June 25, 2026, from https://enviro.epa.gov/envirofacts/uv/search