There are many benefits to wearing sunscreen and everyone has probably heard about the reasons why you should protect your skin from the sun’s rays while on vacation to Mexico (or any country for that matter). Unfortunately, a large number of people go out in the sun without protection, exposing their skin to dangerous UV rays.

Protecting your skin on vacation to Mexico

You may think that protecting your skin from the sun’s rays means not plastering your body in suntan oil or covering up from 10am through 3pm when the sun is at its hottest. While both of these pieces of advice are valid, protecting your skin is about much more than that. For example, you should consider wearing sunscreen on your face and other exposed areas even when the sun is not shining, on your commute to work, while walking to the corner store, when putting the washing out to dry and so on.

Skin cancer can be avoided when you protect your skin

Protecting your skin on vacation is essential to help avoid skin cancer. Nearly 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers along with 65 percent of melanoma skin cancers are all caused by being exposed to the sun. Just protecting your skin on vacation from the UVR ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun will reduce your chances of getting skin cancer. The UVR can damage the DNA and this causes gene mutations that cause skin cancer. One of the most important ways to reduce skin cancer is by protecting your skin on vacation by wearing sunscreen and avoiding the midday sun.

Sunburn

Many people don’t know the severity that sunburn can cause. We can all probably remember a time when we have suffered from sunburn after exposing ourselves to the sun for any amount of time. At first, the skin turns very red, then it can become inflamed. In severe cases, blistering will generally follow. Other symptoms of a sunburn include burning, stinging, swelling, itching and soreness. Once the sunburn starts healing, the symptoms will decrease. However, what most do not know is that sunburn can affect the DNA in the skin and this is the first step to skin cancer developing. Melanoma can develop after just one sunburn blister. This might have happened when you were a child or even more recently. For every time you have been sunburned, the chances of getting skin cancer increases.

Aging of the Skin

Not only can you get skin cancer by not protecting your skin, but overexposure to the sun can affect your looks. Photoaging is UV induced skin aging. You can stop the aging of the skin by just applying sunscreen. You can eliminate premature aging signs that include leathery skin, wrinkles, and sagging skin just by applying sunscreen to your everyday suncare routine. You can also stop age spots and liver spots that are skin discolorations and hyperpigmentation from being exposed to sun exposure.

It doesn’t have to be sunny

No matter what the weather is, you should always wear sunscreen! It is very important to keep your skin healthy and you can do that with wearing sunscreen. When there are overcast days the sun rays can make their way through the clouds up to eighty percent of the time. Also, when you are in a higher altitude the UVR levels will be raised. Also the UVR levels are higher when near snow, water, sand, and concrete as the rays are reflected back and intensified.

Protecting your skin on vacation to Mexico is important, but you should make protecting your skin part of your daily routine to see the most positive effects.