Sun protection after a skin cancer diagnosis

Cancer Research UK's list for someone who has had a keratinocyte cancer is close-weave cotton clothing, long sleeves and trousers, a wide-brimmed hat that shades the face and neck, sunglasses with 100 percent UV protection, sunscreen of at least SPF 30 with four or five stars used generously and reapplied regularly alongside shade and clothing even on a cloudy day, shade between 11am and 3pm in the UK, and never a sunbed. It adds that a specialist might suggest SPF 50 on exposed skin, and that no sunscreen provides complete protection. The BAD adds the timing: apply plenty 15 to 30 minutes before going out and reapply every two hours and straight after swimming and towel-drying, and treat sunscreen as additional to clothing and shade rather than a replacement for them.

NICE NG34 (1.1.1) names the groups that public health activity should focus on, and a person reading this page is in at least one of them: people with a personal or family history of skin cancer, people who are immunosuppressed, people who tend to burn rather than tan, and outdoor workers and people with outdoor hobbies. The vitamin D counterweight is explicit rather than hidden: Cancer Research UK says avoiding direct sunlight reduces vitamin D and that the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition recommends a daily 10 microgram supplement between October and March in the UK, and year round for people who spend long periods indoors or who cover up outdoors.