TUH talks: Slap on the sunblock of SPF 30 or higher, advises consultant

In this month’s Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) Talks Health Column, Professor Anne Marie Tobin, Consultant Dermatologist at the hospital, says we should all now be wearing sunblock of at least factor 30 with a four-star UVA rating.

Here is her advice for protecting your skin.

At long last, it seems we are approaching finer weather and brighter, longer days.

This is the time when we shed our winter layers and expose more of our skin.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort or expense to get your skin ready for this.

Exfoliating your skin gets rid of the top layer of dead cells and brightens your skin.

This can be done simply with a facecloth and a soap-free cleanser such as Silcock’s Base.

Adding some sugar can also act as a gentle scrub and the sugar dissolves and is less abrasive.

Once exfoliated, adding moisture to the skin in the form of unperfumed creams forms the perfect base for using fake tan.

Moisturisers should be applied after a shower, when skin is slightly damp and applied down the legs to avoid irritating hair follicles.

From the first of April to the end of September, your skin needs to be protected from the sun, it is not related to whether the sun is shining or not.

In these months, there is sufficient radiation at ground level to burn your skin, even on a cloudy day.

Use clothing such as long-sleeved T-shirts and trousers to protect your body.

If you hold a fabric up to the light and you can see through it, it will not protect, so linen and silky fabrics won’t, but cotton will.

Also, wearing a hat and sunglasses, protecting your eyes in the sun, protects from developing cataracts.

Your face and exposed areas, such as the back of the hands, should be protected using sunblock or Sun Protection Factor (SPF).

There are plenty of good SPF available at different prices.

A sunblock should protect form UVB and UVA light, the SPF number, e.g. 30 or over, refers to protection from UVB and the star rating refers to the protection form UVA.

A sunblock should be at least SPF 30 and be at least four stars.