Sunscreen Is A Must When Outside In Wyoming To Limit Damage

Mom's are always preaching for you to use your sunscreen every time you're outside and Wyoming Department of Health, Wyoming Cancer Program and Wyoming State Parks all agree that sunscreen is extremely important!

As a matter of fact, it's so important that there is a free sunscreen program in many Wyoming State Parks. There is a chance for you to donate and be a part of this important program.

Wonder why it's so much easier to burn when in the mountains? Rocky Mountain Urgent Care & Family Medicine says it's not only because of the height, but the atmosphere:

The answer is that the sun’s rays have less atmosphere to travel through. Research indicates that for every 1,000 feet of elevation gain, the sun’s UV rays intensify by 8-10 percent because of the thinning atmosphere. That means at the highest elevations of the Colorado Rockies, UV radiation can be more than twice as intense as it would be at sea level.

According to wyoparks.wyo.gov/

Wyoming State Parks and the Wyoming Cancer Program are committed to #PracticeSafeSkin. Your sponsorship offers an effective preventive measure to help visitors avoid over-exposure in Wyoming's favorite outdoor recreational areas.

With all of the options available for sunscreen, which is the best for you to choose? The CDC recommends and SPF 15 or higher. Consumer Reports explains the breakdown of how to determine the best SPF sunscreen for you. When you see SPF 30... SPF is the is how well the sunscreen will protect against sunburn, the number is the actual amount of minutes it will take the sun to burn your when you apply sunscreen compared to when you don't. An example: If you burn after 20 minutes normally, it will be protected for 10 hours if you apply an reapply every 2 hours. There isn't an SPF that will block the sun 100%, but an SPF 30 blocks 97%.

A CDC informative skin cancer video mentions that your skin could burn in as little as 15 minutes and over the years, sun damage takes it's toll on your skin. So if you start using sunscreen at a young age, you're chances of skin cancer is lowered.

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Filed Under: Correct SPF, Skin Cancer, Sunscreen, Wyoming Sunburn

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