Approximately 4,000 people develop skin cancer each year (both melanoma and non-melanoma), accounting for over 30% of all cancers diagnosed here.

Working in partnership with the Public Health Agency, Cancer Focus NI works to reduce skin cancer resulting deaths in Northern Ireland. For more information, click here.

Often we don’t realise when our skin is being damaged, so it is important to be UV aware in order to stay safe in the sun.

The UV index is a much more accurate way of determining your risk of skin and eye damage than just relying on the air temperature.  Did you know UV levels can be high enough to damage your skin even on cool or overcast days? When it’s 3 or more, we need to protect our skin and eyes.

Shade

One of the best ways to protect your skin from the harmful effects of the sun’s UV rays is to spend some time in the shade.

Remember: try to avoid being outdoors for long periods from 11am to 3pm when UV radiation is highest.

Clothing

Clothing is an excellent way to protect your skin from the sun. When picking clothes:

• Choose lightweight fabrics and darker colours
• Fabrics with a tight weave give more protection – if you can see sunlight through the fabric then the UV rays can get through
• Long sleeves, collars, trousers or long skirts give greater protection
• Old, worn or wet clothing may give less protection

Hats

Common sites of skin cancers are the neck, forehead, face, nose and ears. For most of us, these areas are most exposed and receive more UV than other parts of the body. Hats are great for protecting your ears, neck and face – always wear one along with other protection.

Sunglasses

Eyes, like skin, are vulnerable to damage from UV rays. Damage from the sun or sunbeds might not been seen or felt but can build up over time. Short-term effects of over-exposure to UV rays include mild irritations such as excessive blinking, swelling or difficulty looking at strong sunlight. Over-exposure can also cause sunburn of the cornea, as in snow blindness or welders flash burns.

Over long periods, over-exposure to UV rays can result in more serious damage to the eyes, such as cataracts, cancer of the eye and skin cancer of the eyelids and delicate skin around the eyes.

To learn more about how to choose the appropriate sunglasses, click here.

Sunscreen

Sunscreen alone will not protect us completely from sun damage. However, it can be useful for protecting the parts of skin we can’t shade or cover. This is why we recommend using sunscreen together with shade, clothing, hats and sunglasses to avoid getting too much UV exposure.

For more details contact us on 028 9066 3281 or email behealthy@cancerfocusni.org

Check out the Care in the Sun website here.

For more information on protecting your skin see the information here.

Check out Mike Moran’s personal story of skin cancer here.