Opinion: Remember when you're outdoors, you've got skin in the game

Summer is a favorite time of year for many to head outdoors, but it's also an important time to remain mindful of risks that arrive along with warmer temperatures, guarding against heat stroke and heat exhaustion, following proper swimming, boating and other water safety practices and remembering not to leave children or pets in a parked car.

We also must be mindful of one of the greatest long-term risks this season brings: sun-related skin damage that eventually can lead to skin cancer, our nation's most common form of cancer and one that eventually will strike one of every five of us.

The good news is we can prevent this damage by being cautious and applying sunscreen. The bad news is too many of us don't. As The Post and Courier's Tom Corwin reports, only about 12% of men and 29% of women bother to apply sunscreen to their bodies when they're going to be outside for more than an hour on a sunny day, according to a 2020 National Center for Health Statistics survey. (Slightly more, 18% of men and 43% of women, regularly apply sunscreen to their face.)

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reminds us of the need to take extra precautions when enjoying the outdoors, noting that sun damage is cumulative, and our risk rises every time we step into the summer sunshine.

Ideally, people should try to remain indoors or in the shade between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when damaging ultraviolet rays are at their most intense; a good rule of thumb is to seek shade whenever your shadow is shorter than you are. Protective clothing such as long-sleeved shirts, long pants and broad-brimmed hats can help as well for those who venture out during this time.

We also must remember that both sand and water can reflect and intensify harmful UV rays - and that we need to reapply a broad-spectrum sunscreen (SPF 15 and above) every few hours. "The problem is patients do so well in the morning and then an hour and a half later, just when you are getting your beach chair set up and enjoying your day, you have to reapply that," Dr. Jane Scribner, an assistant professor in dermatology and dermatopathology at the Medical University of South Carolina, told Corwin. "I think that's really where people get into trouble and forget to do that."

If caught early, skin cancer is very treatable. More common types, such as basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers, often can be removed effectively with little lasting harm to the patient. However, melanoma, the third-most common type, can be fatal: It can spread quickly into the lymph nodes, lungs, liver and brain. In 2020, 1,385 South Carolinians were diagnosed with melanoma, and 129 died from it.

But just as some nonsmokers can get lung cancer, some skin cancers aren't associated with damage from the sun, so getting checked regularly is vital.

In between visits to a dermatologist, we should monitor ourselves; self-examinations are quick, and a friend or loved one can look at hard-to-see areas. Keep an eye out for new spots or growths or changes in existing moles or discolorations. While inspecting moles, keep the A-B-C-D-Es of melanoma in mind: asymmetrical (the mole or spot has an irregular shape); border (its edge is irregular or jagged); color (it's uneven); diameter (the mole or spot is larger than a pea); and evolving (it has changed in recent weeks or months).

We're learning more about the risks of sun exposure and skin cancer, but we already know enough to minimize this summer threat and reduce our likelihood of future cancers that would be an inconvenience at best, fatal at worst.

This editorial was originally published in the Post and Courier on Tuesday, June 6.