By Andrea Linden, InsideARC -

With a rush of patients seeking treatment for skin lesions before the Christmas – New Year break, it’s a timely reminder to slip, slop, slap – seek shade and slide on some sunglasses.

Unlike our friends in the northern hemisphere celebrating the season during winter, many Australians will be enjoying holidays in the sunshine and heat – getting outdoors, and spending time with family and friends at the beach or in the country.

Whenever I travel locally or overseas I always like to take an SPF30+ Sunscreen with me which has been tested to the Australian/New Zealand Standard 2604.  Given Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, we take our sunscreen very seriously.  So much so, that in Australia, sunscreen is considered a medicine, with all sunscreens listed with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (the Australian equivalent of the USA FDA).  In many other countries sunscreen is considered a cosmetic product.

The most important difference that I see in Australian sunscreens to other countries’ is in the label claim for water resistance.  With the A/NZ Standard, if the sunscreen claims four hours water resistance, then the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) on the label is calculated after four hours water immersion.  In Europe or the USA, the SPF claimed on the label is before water immersion, and then the sunscreen can only claim 40 minutes and 80 minutes water resistance – with the SPF value not dropping by more than half of the label SPF after immersion.

So, if I’m going to the beach or swimming at the local pool, a broad spectrum, SPF 30+ with four hours water resistance is what I want in a sunscreen.  Don’t forget to re-apply every two hours or more often when sweating, and use generous amounts of sunscreen – approximately 35ml of sunscreen for an adult full body application.  And cover up when out of the water, seek shade and slide on some sunglasses, and hopefully, we won’t see
you at our consulting rooms any time soon.

For further information visit www.sunsmart.com.au.

Enjoyed reading our Blogs on InsideARC? Stay up to date with the latest posts by following us on Twitter or Facebook.

Photo Credit: © iStockphoto.com/gmutlu