It can be easy to forget to apply sunscreen when a sunny summer day beckons you to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors. But forgetting to apply sunscreen before spending time in the sun is a potentially deadly mistake. According to the World Health Organization, one in every three cancers diagnosed is a skin cancer. In addition, the Skin Cancer Foundation notes that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70. The discomfort of a sunburn might seem relatively harmless, but the relationship between sunburns and cancer risk is significant. The SCF notes that having five or more sunburns doubles your risk for melanoma, a type of skin cancer that often and quickly spreads to nearby lymph nodes. Perhaps that’s one reason why the American Cancer Society reports that the number of new invasive melanoma cases diagnosed annually increased by 47 percent between 2010 and 2020. Avoiding sunburn by applying and reapplying a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a minimum sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 should be a priority for anyone spending time outdoors.
