Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffThe best news about melanoma is that many cases of skin cancer can be prevented by following these straightforward precautions:
- Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Because the sun's rays are strongest during this period, try to schedule outdoor activities for other times of the day, even in winter or when the sky is cloudy. You absorb UV radiation year-round, and clouds offer little protection from damaging rays.
-
Wear sunscreen year-round. Sunscreens don't filter out all harmful UV radiation. While sunscreens block UVB rays very well, most don't block all UVA rays. For this reason, sunscreen should be just one part of your overall sun protection strategy. Sunscreens that contain ingredients such as titanium dioxide and mexoryl do a better job at blocking UVA rays. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen that has a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. Use a generous amount of sunscreen on all exposed skin, including your lips, the tips of your ears, and the backs of your hands and neck.
For the most protection, apply sunscreen 20 to 30 minutes before sun exposure and reapply it every two hours throughout the day. Also be sure to reapply it after swimming or exercising. Apply sunscreen to young children before they go outdoors, and teach older children and teens how to use sunscreen to protect themselves. Keep a bottle of sunscreen in your car as well as with your gardening tools, and sports and camping gear.
- Wear protective clothing. Sunscreens don't provide complete protection from UV rays. That's why it's a good idea to also wear tightly woven clothing that covers your arms and legs, and a broad-brimmed hat, which provides more protection than a baseball cap or visor does. Some companies also sell photoprotective clothing. Your dermatologist can recommend an appropriate brand. Don't forget sunglasses. Look for those that block both UVA and UVB rays.
- Avoid tanning beds and tan-accelerating agents. Tanning beds emit UVA rays, which may be as dangerous as UVB rays — especially since UVA light penetrates deeper into your skin and causes precancerous skin lesions.
- Be aware of sun-sensitizing medications. Some common prescription and over-the-counter drugs — including antibiotics; certain cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes medications; birth control pills; nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others); and the acne medicine isotretinoin (Accutane) — can make your skin more sensitive to sunlight. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about the side effects of any medications you take. If they increase your sensitivity to sunlight, be sure to take extra precautions.
- Check your skin regularly and report changes to your doctor. Examine your skin often for new skin growths or changes in existing moles, freckles, bumps and birthmarks. With the help of mirrors, check your face, neck, ears and scalp. Examine your chest and trunk, and the tops and undersides of your arms and hands. Examine both the front and back of your legs, and your feet, including the soles and the spaces between your toes. Also check your genital area, and between your buttocks.
- Have regular skin exams. Consult your doctor for a complete skin exam every year if you're older than 40, or more often if you're at high risk of developing melanoma.
