Welcome back to MSE and drudgery. I hope everyone's spring break was more entertaining than mine. I spent it shuffling papers at the doctor's office. Although it wasn't Cancun, the upside of my spring break is that I didn't return to Hopkins Sunday evening burnt to a crisp and hung over from a week of drunken revelry.
Regardless, my aloe plant was put to use. Several friends of mine cruised around the Caribbean, using sun block up until the very last day of their travels. They returned home pimento-red, flaky, peeling and demanding the dismembering of my aloe plant for its juices.
Anyone that's ever been sunburnt before knows that it's not a pleasant experience. Sunburns are itchy, painful and dangerous, not to mention icky looking when you start to shed dried skin. But most of the nastiness of sunburns vanishes with time - except the increased risk of skin cancer.
Skin cancer occurs when abnormal skin cells divide uncontrollably. Skin cancer affects over one million Americans annually, and over 85 percent of skin cancers are caused by overexposure to the sun. Just one severe sunburn can increase your chances of skin cancer by up to 50 percent. Ultraviolet (UV) rays in particular are thought to contribute to skin cancer. UV rays are shorter than visible light rays, with UVA rays as the longest and UVC the shortest. UCV rays are absorbed by the ozone layer, but UVA and UVB sizzle on down through our skin and contribute to skin cancer.
UVA rays make up the majority of UV radiation, but are less intense than UVB rays. UVA penetrates deeper into the skin than UVB and damages the skin's connective tissues, weakening the skin's immune system and causing aging and wrinkling by decreasing the skin's elasticity, and causing a tan to form by activating the skin cell's melanin production.
UVB rays, while much less abundant than UVA, are the main cause of the reddening. UVB only penetrates the top layer of the skin, but is the main ray responsible for skin cancer, although it also contributes to skin aging and tanning.
This is very important to remember while picking out your sunscreen. Make sure your grease of choice blocks both UVA and UVB rays. The SPF scale is aimed primarily at UVB, to protect against sunburn, so while you broil away, blissfully unaware that you're only covered in UBV-blockers, UVA is chomping through your keratinocytes and setting the foundation for wrinkles at age 30.
There are three main kinds of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and melanoma, the most dangerous. A BCC is the most common kind of skin cancer, making up around 90 percent of all skin cancers diagnosed in the U.S. BCCs are mostly benign, because they never metastasize into other parts of the body. BCCs appear as small waxy-textured bumps or flat lesions, usually on the shoulders and up, and may be covered in tiny blood vessels that can cause crustiness or bleeding. BCCs are usually harmless unless they spread into nearby structures (like the nose), and can be easily removed by a dermatologist and biopsied.
Squamous cell carcinoma, or SCC, is a bit like a BCC because it starts small, usually in an area of high sun exposure. It can start as a flat, crusty lesion on the surface of the skin, or as little scaly, tender red bumps that spread across the skin. SCCs are more serious than BCCs because they're more likely to spread across the surface of the skin, or invade deeper into the skin layers and surrounding tissues and grow into a large mass. SCCs, like BCCs, can be treated by simple removal by the dermatologist.
Melanoma is the most serious kind of skin cancer, because it commonly metastasizes to other areas of the body, where it becomes difficult to treat and may eventually be fatal. A melanoma is a tumor produced by the melanocytes, the cells in the skin that produce melanin, the pigment that causes freckles and tans. A melanoma can begin as new moles, generally black, brown or speckled, or any moles or lesions that are changing in shape, border definition or size.
A doctor can usually remove a small melanoma if it is caught early and hasn't yet metastasized, but if the cancer has spread, oncologists and other doctors are in the future. If you spot new moles or weird marks or pustules on your skin that refuse to go away, make an appointment with your dermatologist.
The best way to avoid all skin cancers: avoid the sun, don't smoke, eat healthy and select well-gened parents. Mainly, wear at least SPF30 (don't forget your lips) when you're playing in the sun, or UV-blocking clothes, hats and sunglasses (to avoid UV damage to you corneas).
If you do get a little burnt, go to the drugstore and next to the sunblock will be a variety of lotions and sprays to reduce the red and the pain. My favorite remedy? A cool shower and fresh aloe juice.
