AIBU to think that sun cream was rarely used in the 70s? Recovering from the big C.

[Serendipity12]

So, am always paranoid about sun exposure with my two DCs and with good reason - 6 years ago I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. Luckily am still here but it really got me thinking back and as I was growing up, although we rarely went abroad, like all other kids I enjoyed playing out and about and I have no recollection of ever being slathered in sun cream. Do remember the calamine lotion for occasional sun burn though😬
Not meaning to be judgey of my parents but is this the experience of other similarly aged people on here? Because it was obviously a factor in me developing that disease. Just trying to get perspective, really...

No one used sunscreen when I was growing up. Everyone got sunburnt at least once per year. My aunties would oil themselves and lie on the shed roof to try and get proper cooked. My uncle died of skin cancer in the early 2000s (he did not seek treatment for a long time, he probably would have been alive and well today otherwise) and now my whole family won't move without a thick layer of factor 50.

I was born in 1961, and brought up in a seaside town. We did have sun cream, can't remember what factor it was. DM was perhaps more aware than many - I remember her telling us by way of warning how she'd been in the chemists shop when someone brought in a badly sunburned baby, the chemist told the parent to go straight to the hospital.

Just in case it is useful I read an article about someone, who had suffered melanoma, who set up a small chain of private clinics to provide rapid checks and treatment. (The Mole Clinic - near Oxford Circus).

I stored this away then spotted a darker than normal freckle on my back whilst in a very mirrored hotel bathroom. I have lots of freckles so I am not sure why it stood out. I made an appointment on line and had a full skin check on a Tuesday two days after I got back. I was then told to come in and see a consultant on the Saturday, who confirmed it was very worrying and gave me the option of an NHS referral or having it out straight away. I decided I did not want to wait. Biopsy results came back and it was malignant but still "in situ", so I was effectively cured. I needed more flesh removed as a precautionary measure, but the biopsy came back clear. None of this had really worried me until the consultant started saying how lucky I was. Apparently if it had not been spotted early I would have been dead within two years.

I think it was about £150 for a full body check and about £50 for a single mole, which is not cheap, but for many people worth it for peace of mind. It would make a weird but perhaps life-saving Christmas present for nearest and dearest.

Excuse me for being a bit evangelical.

Born 1970, my first memory of suncream was about 1984. I remember my mum putting on normal body lotion in the sun, no idea why.

Although I don't remember suncream above factor 8, there was always a bottle of "aftersun lotion" from Avon too. Can still remember the smell. It was just the thing to take the sting out of burned shoulders and faces!

(Never seemed to occur to people that not getting burned in the first place was a better idea).

I was born in 1965 and we always had suntan lotion, which was to prevent burning and aid tanning. My Mum was a sun worshipper, but also understood that sunburn wasn't pleasant.

I'm ancient so can remember being smothered in Ambre Soleil (or some name like that) when at the beach in the 50s. The object was to get a nice tan rather than protecting me from the sun.

The thinning layers and holes of the ozone only really started in the 70s which started to let in more UV rays.

I was born early 70s but grew up in Australia. My parents were always careful with us, hats and loose tops and suncream (and not being out in the hottest part of the day in mid summer). Suncream was part of getting ready for school at the start and end of the school year; and always went to school on swimming days. I remember in early highschool borrowing someone's suncream stick before swimming once, (seemed pretty new at the time?), and discovering from the stripy burns the next day that you had to be more careful when applying it not to miss any bits ...

I think legislation in Australia at that time meant that SPF "15 +" was the highest they could label suncream as, not sure when it was changed.

In the mid eighties my parents took on holiday factor 2, factor 4 and a special bottle of factor 6 just for freckly me.

There was also a special sun lamp thing we used to sit in front of before we went abroad, which supposedly would stop us burning at the first sun exposure.

I used to live in NZ and GPs there seem much more melanoma alert. It was a GP there who explained the ugly duckling mole theory to me and pointed out which of my many moles needed most vigilance.

Born late 70s, so family holidays in the 80s. Sun cream regime was nothing in the UK and Ambre Solaire bronzing oil factor 2 in Spain. I remember being burnt really badly one year in Cornwall. My back was one huge blister and I had to sleep oh my front. As a result I am super vigilant about any moles on my back.

Born late 70s and went on a lot of holidays abroad. We definitely wore sun cream, hats, T-shirts in the pool. Still remember burning though.

We were told that you could only bet a tan if you wear sun cream, this was the 70's. Definitely a priority in our family.

You are right. I've had a suspicious mole removed and although not cancerous it does mean the I'm a higher risk for skin cancer than the average for the UK.

Plus, anyone who thinks people are more sensible in the sun nowdays would have had a sight on the beach at Bournemouth this weekend. Dozens of people badly burned, but still lying in the sun. We hid in our sun tent.

I was born in the late 70's and don't remember much suncream when I was a kid.
My Dad has just been diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma ....very fair skin but never wore a shirt in the summer, he got burnt alot.

Needmoresleep
I'm hopefully going for a full body map at the mole clinic next week for peace of mind

Bet should be get. My spelling is rubbish today

I never used suntan lotion until I was an adult and started going abroad on holiday.

I remember being on a beach in the UK watching a couple apply lotion and my Mum said what a waste of time they are as white as milk bottles! The lack of knowledge back then was astounding and as a result both myself and dh have lots of moles which I'm sure are as a result of not having any sun protection.

When I first started going abroad for holidays when I was 18 we laid on the beach frying to a crisp aiming to be a deep mahogany colour. If I could go back in time and give myself a shake...

My mum used to cover us in sun cream but it was only factor 15 and it wasn’t waterproof so it came off when we went in the sea.

Most dcs in the 80s were tanned in summer. We played out for hours. No daytime tv or internet so I spent most of my time playing in the local stream or lying in the garden revising , with Wimbledon on the radio

My mother used to bake herself in the back garden covered in coconut oil for maximum tan. When we went abroad (twice) she used ambre solaire oil as it was better. It had no protection but it smelt amazing. She never burned, I don’t know how

Born in 1970s. Suncream use was rare and only low factors. I used to sunbathe even as a child and on holiday would be in the sun on the beach all day long. I stopped sunbathing in the 1990s.

My dad died of malignant melanoma when I was 12. The sun helped his psoriasis.

We used sunscream in the 70s. It’s still one of my favourite smells.

I remember when we did burn, my mother would dab calamine lotion on the red patches and send us out to burn again the next day !

I was born in the 70s and no one used suncream that I recall. Even when I went to Tenerife!!! I am very fair and was very badly burned a number of times as a child. The links between this and skin cancer were not common knowledge then and it was just thought oh you burn and then tan or go whirs again. No big deal. I slather myself now of course and check my many many moles regularly as my constant burning as a child def puts me at risk of skin cancer.

Sunscreen was around, but it was factor 3, 5 or 10 (IIRC) but there were also oils designed to accelerate tanning - no protective effect at all, probably quite the opposite!

And the summers seemed so long and hot then - or perhaps that’s just the memory of 1976 dominating the whole decade