Tips For Protecting Your Kids From Ultraviolet Rays

American businessman Frank Lane once said, “If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.”

However, that doesn’t mean you have to risk obtaining stormy effects from exposing your unprotected skin – or worse, your children’s unprotected skin – to the damaging rays of the sun.

Unprotected skin is vulnerable to negative effects of the sun, even if you don’t see any kind of obvious evidence of sun damage, such as tan or sunburn.

It is more apt to show signs of premature aging which includes wrinkles, age spots, and patches of dry, itchy skin.

The fact that younger and younger women are looking for ways to reverse the signs of aging alone is proof that you can never be too early in teaching your children responsible skin care habits.

While short-term reactions like rashes and tissue damage might seem easy enough to remedy with creams and other over-the-counter cures, the chemicals in these products are linked to deadly diseases.

That makes the short term effects no safer than the long term ones, which could include severe forms of skin cancer.

Sun Prevention For Young Skin

While these tips are geared towards children and teens, they’re things that adults should consider as well when spending time outdoors.

Sunscreen alone provides some protection, but no one option for shielding skin from ultraviolet rays is enough. It’s best to use a combination of ways.

Here are some things you can do to protect your family’s skin from the sun that are great options for use in conjunction with a sunscreen that has an SPF rating of 15 or higher.

Avoid The Noon Sun

Lunchtime is the not only the hottest part of the day, but it’s also the time when the ultraviolet rays are strongest.

Limit outdoor time to before 10am or after 4pm whenever possible. If you have young children, look for ways to keep active while indoors.

Shopping malls, fast food restaurants, and even community rec centers are adding indoor play areas that appeal to grown-up consumers by catering to the needs of their children.

Check Out The UV Index

Websites with local weather forecasts offer the current and projected high temperatures. They tell how humid it’s going to be and give the chance that the area might see precipitation.

However, the most important thing they should do is give the UV index. If the level is moderate or above, take extra precaution or just stay inside.

“Short shadows need shade,” is something my parents and grandparents always quipped before I’d venture outside to play as a child. It’s a lesson that stuck and something good for everyone, both children and grown-ups, to know.

When your shade grows short, it means the sun is high and giving off a high amount of ultraviolet rays. Shade that allows filtered light, such as tree branches, canopies, or parasols and umbrellas, do not protect well enough on their own.

Use these in combination with another form of protection such as sunscreen.

Dress For Successful Sun Protection

You’d be surprised at how much protection a hat with a 6” or wider brim offers for the face, neck, and shoulders.

Sunglasses are a great defense against both UV-A and UV-B rays can prevent burned corneas and cataracts from being outside without any kind of eye protection.

Clothes made from fabric with a tight weave are a better option than loose clothing, which can allow filtered sunlight to reach unprotected skin.

Wearing the right kind of clothes can help prevent the need for antiaging skin care treatment later in life.

Healthy Skin Care Habits For Life

The best way to raise awareness to your own children in regards to healthy skin care habits is by being a good example of someone who protects their own skin.

Because children are continually growing, their skin will not be fully developed until their bodies reach adult stage, and even then they will shed countless numbers of dead skin cells on a daily basis that are constantly being replaced by new ones.

Teaching them healthy skin care habits when they are young is not only a way to keep them from contracting any number of skin diseases, but will also help keep their skin looking smooth and fresh as they grow.