To now be worried about sunscreen / skin cancer

[PaulinesPenStash]

I've always been so careful in the sun after a scare with a mole a few years ago (was fine but really shook me up) ...worn factor 50 on my face every day for over ten years. And and may - September any exposed parts get the factor 50 treatment as well

However I've started to see stuff pop up about wearing sunscreen being now linked to skin cancer

I mean fgs you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. So do I wear sunscreen or not or just stay indoors all the time

You need a mineral sun screen that sits on the skin, as others have said.
My company makes sun cream so I (unfortunately) know a lot about them!!

formulabotanica.com/not-use-coconut-oil-sunscreen/

This article from a quick Google. If you want to use homemade sunscreen on yourself, go ahead, but I personally wouldn't risk it on my child. I think we all need some vitamin D. I don't put sunscreen on myself if walking to and from work or the shops etc.... I judge it on the day. I've not burnt in years. Suncream will be fine to use OP. But I really don't think you should be putting it on every single day for all the months you mention.

I had 2 lots of surgery for skin cancer last year on my face.
I'm now putting sun cream on my face factor 30 as I've read bad things about factor 50 but I don't usually put suncream on my arms or legs.
Now I don't want to do. As I've had skin cancer already I feel I should wear suncream and it hasn't even been a year yet since my last op.

justme
Your advice is dangerous at best!

For goodness sakes! Maybe just adopt the “everything in moderation” approach. Then you can’t blame anything specifically if you get cancer. Statistically it’s likely to be cancer, heart attack,or dementia with some pneumonia thrown in. None are great options.

@MissChananderlerbong wonder if we work for the same company

good old coconut oil or rasperry seed oil has a good level of SPF protection, it doesnt fullfill your body/skin/blood with poisonous chemicals

Jesus Christ. I don’t know where to start with that really.

I was writing a whole reply to this, but I think it’s best just to say that there is no substantial evidence that any of the chemicals in suncream cause cancer. There is, however, a wealth of evidence that UV radiation causes cancer.

OP if you are struggling with your health anxiety I would urge you to try and get some support to deal with it

Dermatologist here. I put suncream on my kids everyday from May until mid-September if they're going to be outside for longer than 20 minutes. Ignore the scare stories - suncream does not cause cancer. Whereas not wearing suncream most certainly does.

Regarding Vitamin D, my children (and I) take supplements, as per NHS advice.

good old coconut oil or rasperry seed oil has a good level of SPF protection, it doesnt fullfill your body/skin/blood with poisonous chemicals

Hello, I'm a dermatologist. Please stop spouting this dangerous nonsense. Your words could quite literally kill people.

Sorry dumb question but I use a sunscreen from Tesco, how do I know if it's a mineral one? Do I need to buy one that says so?

Coconut oil? Is it the 70s again, when my classmates in Australia slathered themselves in it and now have terrible rates of skin cancer (and look like uncared for leather bags)

Which suncream has minerals?

I haven't seen any evidence that sunscreen actually causes skin cancer (and would appreciate links to research showing it might), but this discussion does remind me of a cancer specialist I met at a cancer conference about 12 years ago who refused to wear any suncream as she insisted that the UV in sun broke the components in suncream into cancer causing chemicals. She was a fan of UV protective clothing and good old common sense (staying in the shade when the sun was most intense) instead.

I have to admit though I do think that sunscreen is massively overused, especially up here in Scotland where there are really only a handful of days that justify it. There are documented harms to not getting enough sunlight, even if the suncream itself isn't dangerous. There's the Vitamin D thing, which is linked to all kinds of problems including immune deficiency (which I guess could plausibly have a role in higher cancer rates) but also nitric oxide release which is protective against heart disease. I was surprised to learn that heart disease increases the more North you go, thought to be linked to lower sunlight exposure, and that vitamin D supplements didn't reverse the problem. Interesting TED talk by a dermatologist based in Edinburgh here:

As ever, a bit of balance and common sense is required.

Well I live in Northern England so I cant imagine why on earth people would use 50spf or even 30spf when the temperature rarely gets to 20 degrees in summer LOL anyway, before slashing bottles full of 50spf suncreams on you - have yoy ever thought what damage you are doing to yourself by blocking vitamin D absorbtion? Never mind all these little kids with pale faces that arent developing properly due to vit D deficiencies. It is all linked! I am almost 30 and havent got cancer and am not using sunscream, the same goes for all my family - no sunscream and no skin cancer! If you analyse every single one of the ingredients on your sunscreen bottles you will find that most if them are chemicals which are really dangerous google it - read up on it - do your own research and THEN decide for yourself and your own family. p.s. obviuosly if you live in south spain it probably is a different story :)

Well I live in Northern England so I cant imagine why on earth people would use 50spf or even 30spf when the temperature rarely gets to 20 degrees in summer LOL anyway, before slashing bottles full of 50spf suncreams on you - have yoy ever thought what damage you are doing to yourself by blocking vitamin D absorption

Hello! I’m a dermatologist in Northern England. People in Northern England do get skin cancer.

And, by the way, you actually can’t tell how high UV radiation is from the temperature. UV levels can still be extremely high on cool days.

Regarding Vitamin D, it’s far better to wear suncream everyday and take a Vitamin D supplement if you’re concerned.

I wear it when my risk of burning makes the risks that could come from sunscreen balance. So I will put it on for a day at the beach, for example, but not pottering around town where I’m in and out of shops.

I think we are very clever in what we can invent but we are still learning the consequences on long term issues. I’d not use it daily as I think we have naturally developed protection from the sun through evolution for day to day wandering. It’s just when we go and bake ourselves in the sun it’s a problem.

Wear the bloody suncream. Stop believing things you read on social media.

A very close relative of mine died from skin cancer before he was 50. It's not just a slightly dodgy mole you can get chopped off, it can be much much worse.

Flying but aren’t most commercial sunscreens not mineral, but chemical (e.g. the ones killing the reefs around tourist areas). The mineral ones are available but a lot more expensive and harder to rub in.

We only use the mineral ones because they sit on the skin. My understanding is the more commonly used ones (big brands) are absorbed into the bloodstream and may be a concern.

As a ‘scientist’ (what kind?) any advance on this?

Can someone link the article

Oops, sent too soon! Can someone link the article / research that indicates sunscreen causes cancer? If you Google it it only seems to show up on "10 biggest cancer myths" and similar- which is probably telling in itself!!

There are scientific studies proving sunscreen prevents skin cancer so I would continue to use. It causing skin cancer is either a myth, or not as much as not wearing it does

blog.skincancer.org/2018/06/06/sunscreen-safety/ read this

Do your own research

Except you don’t mean actual proper research do you? You’re not doing tests in a lab or running a RCT are you? You mean googling with the purpose of finding information that confirms the viewpoint you already have.

I have a few reservations about factor 50, but mostly because we don't have a lot of Vit D in the UK.

I only put factor 30 on my kids, my mum put factor 30 on me when I was growing up in NZ (hole in the ozone layer)and so long as I was applied regularly I didn't get burnt. And I am very pale and blonde.

BUT I would never not put sunscreen on, I knew a 16yo who died of melanoma :(

Its like never eating meat because of the risks to bowel cancer.