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Avoidance, obviously, is the best thing for preventing sunburn and associated
UV damage. However, jobs, classes, etc. all force us outdoors now and
then, sometimes more often than others depending on the job and/or the
classes. Knowing what you can do to protect yourself will help greatly.
VITAMIN D
Just because you're avoiding the sun doesn't mean you can skip your
vitamin D! Normally the body makes vitamin D with sun exposure (hence
why it's called the "sunshine vitamin"), but if you're avoiding
the sun, obviously the body isn't going to get that process going very
well.
Full body exposure to sunlight for about 30 minutes makes about 10,000
IU's of vitamin D. (I'm going to assume there's variables in timeframe
depending on how far away from the equator you are, and the fact that
most people don't go sunbathing in the nude.)
Because I don't get a lot of sun myself (for obvious reasons, heh)
I am currently taking 5,000IU's of vitamin D a day. This is a slight
adjustment in 2009 based on bloodtest results in spring of that year,
because showed my vitamin D levels were a little below optimum. For
several years prior, I was taking 4,000IU's a day of vitamin D with
no resulting health issues at all - unless you count never getting the
flu to be an issue *grins*. Vitamin D is relatively inexpensive (the
variety
of softgels I was getting tends to run around $10 or so for a 250-count
bottle) so it's relatively cost-effective to keep it in the diet.
Softgels are greatly preferred - vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin,
so you should NEVER get tablet or caplet forms!
GENERAL PROTECTION TIPS
Sunscreen:
Look for varieties with titanium dioxide or zinc oxide - these are physical
sunblock components, rather than chemical based, and should work for
anyone. Generally these will be in sunblocks aimed for children, or
all-natural / organic brands of sunscreen. If you have no luck with
those, then you can also use diaper rash ointment in a pinch (though
it may have a "baby powder" smell), as it also contains zinc
oxide.
Hats / Clothing:
Partly to keep the sun out of your eyes, and partly to keep you from
getting sun poisoning if you're out in the sun too long without a hat.
Ideally they should also have a brim, and be tight enough (or have a
strap) so you dont' have to worry about losing your hat in a stiff breeze.
Clothing should ideally have long sleeves and long pantlegs, and have
a dense weave to keep the sun out. It can be light gauzy fabric with
a dense weave, or heavy fabric thick with a dense weave - as long as
it blocks the sun, it's all good. (Light fabrics may "breath"
better in hot temperatures, and looser fits allow the breeze to get
in and around to cool you off better in hot temperatures as well.) Experiment
to find out which fabrics work better for you.
Black is not a requirement! And black actually tends to retain heat,
because it reflects less light than lighter colored fabrics. On the
other hand, it's often easier on the eyes BECAUSE it reflects less light,
so it all depends on what you're more comfortable dealing with...
If you need something more specialized for sunblock protection, you
can try these retailers:
Coolibar (USA)
Shady
Lady Products (USA)
SolarTex
(USA)
SunProof
(USA)
Sun
Grubbies (USA)
UV
Gear (USA)
Sunglasses:
The darker, the better - but it has to block as much UV as possible,
to prevent as much UV-caused eye damage as possible over many years.
It's generally a good idea to combine sunglasses with a hat for best
results, especially if you're not able to get (or don't feel comfortable
wearing) a pair of torch welding glasses.
As a courtesy, I do take my sunglasses off when I go indoors, unless
it's obnoxiously bright (such as in some window-covered shopping malls.)
Admittedly, when I have a migraine, I leave them on and deal with the
stares from people...but usually I take them off indoors.
Window Coverings:
There are often a variety of options for light blocking window coverings.
Generally what offers the best light blocking capability are solid vinyl
(not fabric) roller shades - these are often cheap, but not terribly
nice looking. In otherwords, practical but not fashionable.
You can get simaler light blocking capability from vertical blinds,
which are often made in a light-blocking variety (some varieties of
vinyl/plastics), and can be found in discount stores, but are not always
cheap even there. And if you have an odd-sized window, you may just
be out of luck for off-the-shelf varieties and may be forced to order
them custom-sized.
The next option is horizontal blinds - however, the slats aren't as
tight together, so you do get light leakage through them. Again, these
can be expensive, especially if you have to have them custom-sized.
However, depending on how you have them mounted, you can have roller
shades under them or some other light blocking screen/film method to
block more light. It all depends on how you like your windows.
Some retailers you can check out for window covering options:
Bali Blinds (window coverings)
Easy
Up Shade (solar screen window films)
Gila
Films (solar screen window films)
Hunter
Douglass (window coverings)
Levelor
Blinds (window coverings)
The
Shade Store (window coverings)
Sunox
Solarfilms (solar screen window films)
On the more unusual side, I've heard of windows being covered with
sheets, blankets, sheets of insulation boards, and the occasional mattress.
It all depends on who you're living with as to what you can get away
with. I do recommend if you're using one of the more unusual methods,
that first covering the window with a layer of white fabric (so that
it looks mostly normal from the outside) is probably a good idea. You
can use any color as the outside-facing layer, but the sun is going
to bleach anything and turn it white eventually, so you might as well
start with white.
TYPES OF UV RADIATION
Ultraviolet radiation is a portion of the electromagnet spectrum with
wavelengths shorter than visible light. This is usually split into three
bands, which are defined as follows:
UV-A: 320-400 nanometers (Not absorbed by ozone)
UV-B: 280-320 nanometers (Partially absorbed by ozone)
UV-C: 279 or less nanometers (completely absorbed by ozone, but is generated
by some welding equipment)
UV-B is particularly effective at damaging DNA, and is a cause of melanoma
and other types of skin cancer. As the ozone layer is depleted, this
effect will become worse over time (shortening the time it's safe to
be in the sun too, incidentally.)
Since some types of welding equipment give off UV in the UV-C bands,
most welding glasses are geared to block UV-C as well as most or nearly-all
of the UV-A and UV-B bands as well.
~SphynxCatVP
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