Guest guest Posted April 19, 2002 Report Share Posted April 19, 2002 I too feel the struggle over all the chemicals in the sunscreen, but I got skin cancer as a result of sunburns as a child. The only way I know how to protect my children is by using sunscreen. Mine was a basal cell carcinoma, that is a malignant cancer which can be removed and won't kill you, but it will eat through anything in its path. Mine was located between my lip and nose and after 3 years of it not being diagnosed by my doctor in Norway (it was a sore that wouldn't heal and due to my age she thought it was probably just a dry spot), when I went to a dermatologist in the US this summer he saw what it was right away. I had it removed by a plastic surgeon upon my arrival here in Zurich and now have a scar there. I have to go have my skin checked 2 times a year now because I will probably get more. Usually this comes in your 50's. Carmen US citizen in Thalwil (Zurich), Switzerland SAHM of Sam almost 7 & Aleksander 3 ml@h=US English, ML=Swiss & High German " I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be. " -Douglas Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 19, 2002 Report Share Posted April 19, 2002 On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, Carmen Crenshaw-Hovey wrote: > I too feel the struggle over all the chemicals in the sunscreen, but I got > skin cancer as a result of sunburns as a child. The only way I know how > to protect my children is by using sunscreen. Mine was a basal cell carcinoma, > that is a malignant cancer which can be removed and won't kill you, but > it will eat through anything in its path. Mine was located between my lip > and nose and after 3 years of it not being diagnosed by my doctor in Norway > (it was a sore that wouldn't heal and due to my age she thought it was probably > just a dry spot), when I went to a dermatologist in the US this summer he > saw what it was right away. I had it removed by a plastic surgeon upon my > arrival here in Zurich and now have a scar there. I have to go have my skin > checked 2 times a year now because I will probably get more. Usually this > comes in your 50's. Skin cancers are becoming more and more common and are happening earlier in life as people spend more time in the sun and the ozone layer (which absorbs UV rays) is depleted. I've had two members of my family and a family friend come down with malignant melanoma, and my father-in-law has recently had several basal cell tumors removed from his face. My cousin was under 30 when her melanoma was diagnosed. This is a bit of a hot-button issue for me since I've seen so many people affected by skin cancer. Maybe sunscreen is an as-yet-unproven carcinogen or otherwise unhealthy for you, but UV light and sunburns are *proven* carcinogens. I'm not going to expose myself or my child to a known carcinogen in order to avoid something that might or might not be a carcinogen. That just doesn't make sense. That said, there are sunscreens that have fewer chemicals than others. Last year we bought California Baby SPF30+ sunscreen which claims to be free of chemical sunscreens, and it worked very well. It uses titanium dioxide as the active ingredient. It's also not tested on animals. I would still use conventional sunscreens in a pinch rather than letting my family get burned, but I plan on buying the California Baby brand again because it worked so well. Someone else asked about carrots preventing sunburn. That doesn't sound right to me. The beta carrotene in carrots and other orange vegetables can give your skin an orangey-tan color (in fact, that what " tanning pills " use), but my understanding is that it doesn't give you any actual protection from the sun. You *look* tan, but you don't get the protective benefits of a tan. On the plus side, though, you don't have to damage your skin with UV to get the tanned look. Of course, depending on your skin tone eating lots of beta carrotene may just make you look orange like a carrot. (This actually happened to my infant nephew who was eating more carrots than he could process.) ---- Patricia Bullington-McGuire <patricia The brilliant Cerebron, attacking the problem analytically, discovered three distinct kinds of dragon: the mythical, the chimerical, and the purely hypothetical. They were all, one might say, nonexistent, but each nonexisted in an entirely different way ... -- Stanislaw Lem, " Cyberiad " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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