Dermatology of Southeastern Ohio Encourages the Use of Sunscreen For Winter Months

MUSKINGUM COUNTY, Ohio- In the winter a lot of people don’t use sunscreen to protect the skin as much as they would in the summer months.

According to Angela Casey, Board Certified Dermatologist and Skin Cancer Specialist with QualDerm Partners and Dermatology of Southeastern Ohio, said skin cancer affects one and five Americans. It is a very widespread epidemic and outnumbers all other cancers combined. 

Due to this, Doctor Casey encourages everyone to wear sunscreen while outside at all times as snow reflects 80 percent of the ultraviolet rays from the sun, which reflects directly to the skin causing ultraviolet damage and radiation.

“I think another fact that a lot of people aren’t aware of is that the sun penetrates through windows and those ultraviolet rays can penetrate through windows. So when we’re driving in our car, if we’re sitting at our homes, if we’re in our office and there’s a window, the ultraviolet A rays actually penetrate through those windows and those ultraviolet A rays actually go deep into our skin,” Doctor Casey stated.

Outside activities like sled riding, snowball fights and more are activities that can cause damage without the application of sunscreen.

Doctor Casey said the ultraviolet A rays are what damages the collagen and elastic fibers and responsible for a lot of the enzymes that we see in the skin with chronic sun damage.

“So using a gentle cleanser everyday to help nourish and support the skin, a good moisturizer, which helps with protecting the skin and adding that extra layer of barrier and hydration, and then good sunscreen. When you’re looking for sunscreen, you want a sunscreen that has both UVA and UBB protection,” Doctor Casey said. “You want an SPF 30 or higher and ideally a physical sunscreen so the active ingredient would either be a zinc oxide or titanium dioxide and those are the most effective sunscreens.”

Doctor Casey added that whatever sunscreen a person is going to be motivated to use on a regular basis will be the best for the skin, whether that is a light weight, thicker, tinted or untinted formula. 

If you would like more information on skin protection and safety, please call the Dermatology of Southeastern Ohio to speak with someone.