As summer is approaching many people are tempted to hang and play outside all day.  If you don’t do this safely though you can end up inside the next day with a painful sunburn. The sun gives off ultraviolet rays, aka UV rays, which can be very harmful to a person if they’re exposed to them for too long.

   According to www.kidshealth.org a person’s chances of getting sunburned without wearing sunscreen depends on the amount of melanin they have in their body. “Melanin is a chemical in the skin that protects it from sun damage by reflecting and absorbing UV rays”.

   This means that if you’re a like me and almost ghost like, then you will definitely get sunburned within a couple hours of being outside. If you are naturally darker then your chances of getting sunburned are smaller. This doesn’t mean you can’t get burned it just means that it will take a little longer.

   A way to protect yourself from being sunburned is to wear some sunscreen while you are outside. Usually wearing a sunscreen that has a SPF of 30 or higher is the best thing to do. SPF stands for sun protection factor. It helps tell how long you can stay out in the sun.

   “A sunscreen with an SPF of 15 will delay the onset of sunburn in a person who would otherwise burn in 10 minutes to burn in 150 minutes. The SPF 15 sunscreen allows a person to stay out in the sun 15 times longer” says dermatology.about.com.

   Knowing this can help you find the right sunscreen for you. If you use a sunscreen with a low SPF then you will have to apply it more frequently than if you use a sunscreen with a high SPF.

   Using sunscreen doesn’t help though unless you apply it correctly. So be sure to read the directions on how often to put it on and make sure you cover everything. Some places people forget about are the top of the ears, the back of the neck, and even the part in your hair.

   Staying safe from the sun is very important if you want to have healthy skin for life. Being extremely sunburned or getting sunburns repeatedly can result in some pretty serious long term effects. The most known about is the chance of getting skin cancer.

   According to www.skinhelp.co.uk “Repeated exposure to sun or the suffering of just one severe sunburn can increase your likelihood of developing skin cancer. The rising occurence of this serious cancer is in part attributed to repeated sunburns, especially those that occur in early childhood”.

   This is important to know that way you can stay safe and protect yourself from getting cancer later in life. Some other effects of sunburns are the blisters you can get which are extremely painful.

   Sunburns can also make you develop growths, suppress your immune system, and make you age quickly. All of these reasons are scary enough to make you think twice about going outside on a sunny day with no sunscreen, because really, who wants to look like an orange leather bag in a few years?