Sun avoidance and mortality

My dermatologist wants me to see him every 6 months. He "freezes" any pre-cancerous spots he sees.

I love the sun and I'm fully aware of the dangers of melanoma so that's why I see him.
 
I avoid the sun, and I wear sunscreen and a hat when I have to be out in it, especially in the summer. This approach was prescribed to me by a doc back in my early 20s when I had a bad case of what the docs called "sun poisoning." I take D-3 supplements as prescribed by my doc.
 

I take Vitamin D-3 on my doctor's advice. Even so, supposed to get about 10 minutes of sunshine a day.

I read somewhere online that wearing sunscreen prevents people getting enough natural Vitamin D.

I wore sunscreen at the beach last summer and still got a bit of a burn, nothing Noxzema-worthy.
 
I take a Calcium/Vitamin D every day. My husband takes a D3. In Scotland we rarely have to worry about getting too much sun. But we spend 3 months in Thailand in the winter and there is plenty of sun! We use sunscreen and always wear a hat. However, over that amount of time we do gradually get a tan which does mean it takes a lot longer to get a sunburn. By the beginning of the third month I usually just put sunscreen on my shoulders, forearms and nose. We never, ever lay on a beach trying to get a tan. But we walk, ride our bikes a lot, paddle a kayak, and that means sun exposure.

It is humid there, but we do get sea breezes. We try to stay out of the sun midday but since we have lunch and dinner out every day, we have to go out.

We always keep an eye on moles and spots to see if any change. There are no routine checks for spots at a dermatolist in Scotland because it's.....well...Scotland which is known for drizzle and clouds.
 
I'm outdoors as much as possible, but I usually stay pretty well covered up...keep the shirt on and wear a hat, etc. I do put some sunscreen on my lower arms on a hot sunny day, and that seems to suffice.
 
When we lived in Florida I had a sunburn virtually all the time. Even with sunscreen I'm about as fair as you can get and not be Johnny Winter. Obviously I will never be a sun worshipper. Oddly enough my niece goes to a tanning bed regularly. All the lectures in the world about melanoma and the spray tan options and still she bakes herself, I don't get it.
 
My best buddy too. Only as he's gotten older has he discovered self tanners, when he was younger he was always dark. Add being a lifetime smoker and your skin becomes a lovely shade of leather. It's too bad people of our generation didn't know sooner. I remember girls laying out basting themselves and oh remember those foil reflector thingies for an even deeper tan?

Eeekin squeekin' I was in the ER with sun poisoning more than once. I always winced seeing people looking like baked potatoes.
 
When I was hanging out in Florida I was always burning at first with my mixed bloods. After a while I started getting just tan, but always had to be careful regardless.

Nowadays I walk around wearing all black from head to toe, all year long, so no problems there.
 
For me it wasn't as much about the sun as it was the sea, but naturally they go hand in hand. So when I surf I wear a t-shirt and board shorts. It can be sunny while the water is real cold, then I wear a wetsuit (or drysuit). I always wear a brimmed hat, or while I surf it's a water beanie.

Still, I should knock wood that I've never had a skin cancer or whatever.
 
Another memory is my Dad. He had a huge front and back yard and did all his own landscaping. In full sun with no shirt, maybe a hat or a sweatband. He and my brother both tanned deeply. Then in his sixties came the regular skin spot removals. In his nineties now but still a problem.
 
I get sun light regularly, but if I know I'm going to be in it for an extended period I wear long sleeves and my broad brimmed hat. I never use sunscreen, just because I'm too lazy to put it on, although I'm not at all fair complected, or I'd probably be more conscientious about applying some .
 
SifuPhil said:
Ah, okay. I thought you could get into parasailing that way ...

Your beanie looks like it's also made of wet-suit material - that's cool.
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Yeah it is, otherwise you'd lose it. They can give me a headache after a while so I have one with a chin strap that doesn't squeeze my melon so hard.
 
I have often wondered if the sun has the ability to extend one's life. I remember reading in AARP magazine an article some years back that people who live in Florida, (for example), can and do extend their life by 5-8 years longer than those of us living in the north. Can this be true?
 
911 said:
I have often wondered if the sun has the ability to extend one's life. I remember reading in AARP magazine an article some years back that people who live in Florida, (for example), can and do extend their life by 5-8 years longer than those of us living in the north. Can this be true?
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Maybe it has more to do with active lifestyle than sun exposure, although sun does affect mood, and if you're happy, maybe longevity is affected.
 
911 said:
I have often wondered if the sun has the ability to extend one's life. I remember reading in AARP magazine an article some years back that people who live in Florida, (for example), can and do extend their life by 5-8 years longer than those of us living in the north. Can this be true?
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It's true for Superman. Reversed the effects of Kryptonite, thereby extending His life.

BTW, Superman is nearly 80 and has never joined AARP.

hmm...
 


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