A Tan is a Scar...

A natural/UV-induced tan, that is.

thechive.com

I don't hate the sun, I just encourage safe tanning and more importantly UV-protection. The only safe way to tan is from a bottle or tube. Mostly true. So it grates me a little when I see people posting their tan progression pics as they lay in the sun for hours on the beach or next to the pool. Nice hipbones and knees, though. Thanks for that.

I can't tell you what to do or not to do, but I hope this post will at least explain my angst about natural/UV tanning, and why I go all out to protect myself from the sun's harmful UV radiation, and why you should do the same.

UV rays from the sun can penetrate your skin. Because there a different types, with different wavelengths, they reach different levels of cellular activity. You develop a tan because skin cells signal that they are being/have been hurt. In response to this, more melanin is produced by your melanocytes, in the stratum germinativum* and pushed to the upper layers of the skin, producing a tan. It's like when something goes into your eye, your eyes tear. That is your eye's defence mechanism to protect the structures in/of the eye. The same goes with white blood cells. White blood cell count increases when an infection is present because phagocytes (type of white blood cell) engulf and destroy harmful microorganisms in your body. Therefore, when your white blood cell count is high, doctors know that there is something wrong and an infection is present...something is harming your body.

DNA is part of all the cells in your body. DNA makes up the genes. Because UV rays can penetrate your skin cells, they can affect the cell DNA whose responsibility it is to manage cell function. Therefore, your cell functions are now distorted and damaged, sometimes depleted. As the cells develop, it has to go through a process of cell division. These abnormal cells, now with damaged DNA (which replicates), will be multiplying creating a mutation. This is how skin cancer starts/progresses.

If you think that you barely spend enough time outdoors to experience this kind of damage from the sun, think again. You may be in your car for most of the day. Your car is not immune to UV radiation. Your windows do not filter UV(A) rays, which is why an increased risk in skin cancer has been linked to driving. If you get the slightest tan, from sun exposure no matter how you get it: driving, getting fresh air, walking from your car to the entrance of some place, hanging up the washing, picking herbs from your cute little herb garden, damage has ALREADY been done. A tan is a defence mechanism to try and protect your skin/cells from further damage. Ten minutes of sun on unprotected skin daily is enough for Vitamin D production. And this can be on your hand or foot. No need to go completely unprotected. [She says with trepidation.]

Still not convinced?

Huffington Post 

Meet Bill McElligott, 69, a truck driver in Canada. 28 years of driving on the job has caused this very obvious unilateral dermatoheliosis. Sure, you're not a truck driver and maybe you're not a rep of sorts, spending more than half of your day in a vehicle on the road, but why put your poor skin cells (who are just trying to do their job) through this kind of damage? Why put your health at risk?

So now that you know this, you'll need to protect yourself. You can have a look at a post I did last year about being sun smart and protecting yourself, here. Many of those facts still apply today. Beautysouthafrica.com did a very interesting and informative update on SA's sunscreen situation. And CANSA have released a list of COLIPA (European Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association) compliant sunscreens that are available in South Africa, here.

Now be good to yourself, your skin and your health.

Miss B

*Also known as the basal layer. The deepest layer of the epidermis.