The Oncology Aesthetics Podcast

Sun Protection Tips

• Ricardo Fisas Natura Bissé Foundation • Season 1 • Episode 8

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Navigating cancer treatment brings countless challenges, and safeguarding your skin from damaging sun exposure shouldn't be another worry. Kate Epperson, an oncology nurse navigator and melanoma survivor, joins us to break down essential sun protection strategies with clarity and compassion.

Kate expertly demystifies the science behind sun protection, explaining how UVA rays penetrate deeper than UVB rays, making broad-spectrum coverage absolutely essential. "SPF 30 actually gives you 96.7% of coverage from these rays," she shares, while debunking common misconceptions about higher SPF numbers and waterproof formulations. Her practical insights on reapplication – regardless of what the label promises – offer realistic protection strategies for everyday life.

What makes this conversation particularly valuable is Kate's nuanced understanding of both medical science and real-world application. She identifies specific risk factors that cancer patients should be aware of, from fair skin and light-colored eyes to previous sunburn history. Most surprisingly, she reveals that morning sun exposure at 9 AM equals just 15 minutes of afternoon exposure at 1 PM in terms of UV intensity – a game-changing insight for scheduling outdoor activities. We also discuss often-overlooked vulnerabilities, including how women typically develop skin cancer on the backs of their legs, while men develop it on their backs, plus the crucial reminder for cancer patients experiencing hair loss to protect their scalps.

Whether you're undergoing treatment or supporting someone who is, these practical protection strategies can become simple habits rather than burdensome tasks. Subscribe to the Oncology Aesthetics Podcast for more expert guidance on enhancing well-being, self-esteem, and resilience throughout your cancer journey.

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Rae:

This podcast is brought to you by the Ricardo Fisas Natura Bisse Foundation produced by Lyons Creative. All the information contained in this podcast is intended only to provide general skincare guidance. The information is not a substitute for consulting with a physician or other qualified medical professional. Welcome to the Oncology Aesthetics Podcast, where we explore ways to enhance well-being, self-esteem and resilience while navigating cancer. We bring you expert skincare tips, practical self-care strategies and inspiring stories to help you rediscover strength, radiance and joy. Welcome back to the Oncology Aesthetics Podcast. I'm your host and national educator for the . My name is Raejan and I'm here with Kate Epperson. Kate and I are going to talk a little bit about the importance of sun protection. Kate, welcome to the show.

Kate:

Thanks so much for having me. It's such a pleasure to be here.

Rae:

We're glad to have you. So,Kate, tell us a little bit about your role. What's your experience in this field?

Kate:

So I'm actually an oncology nurse navigator and my role for patients is basically to provide them with education that they can use in their everyday lives, whether they're in treatment or completed with treatment, you know, it doesn't matter, but basically I'm one of their referral sources

Rae:

So you really have a lot of interaction with your patients, from point A to point Z, whenever you're navigating with your patients and you're trying to suggest sunscreen, is there any particular type of sunscreen or is all sunscreen the same?

Kate:

No, it's not all the same. Unfortunately, I feel like patients and just the general public needs to have education to know that not only does sunscreen with SPF carry a significant importance, but also broad spectrum sunscreen, mainly because when you have SPF, you're really only protecting yourself against UVB rays, and there are two different types of rays that we need to be cautious of. Uvb rays, those come from the sun. Uva rays, however, come from the sun and tanning beds, tanning lamps, and these actually are present in higher levels rather than UVB rays. They have longer wavelengths, so they can penetrate deeper, which makes them more dangerous. Essentially, so, the way that you protect yourself against UVA as well as UVB is you get an SPF with broad spectrum and then, ultimately, from there you just kind of you want to pay attention to the amount of SPF coverage and then the reapplication to ensure that you know you're staying protected.

Rae:

Okay, that makes sense. So the broad spectrum is going to cover both of those sun rays, the UVA and the UVB. You talked about the amount of coverage. Does that mean that the higher the SPF grade, the more and better the coverage?

Kate:

Okay, so that can get pretty scientific, not going to lie. But generally if you have an SPF of 30 or greater, then you're, you're going to be much more protected from the Sun. Then let's say with you know, those tanning sprays that have SPF 8, like what is that? That does nothing, that is nothing for your skin. And then, I mean again, it gets super, super. But essentially there is like a formulation and they basically, from the formulation we've been able to find out that SPF 30 actually gives you 96.7% of coverage from these rays. Okay, um, so all the way up to 50 SPF, you're getting 98% coverage. So that that's a big consideration.

Kate:

Um, beyond 50, you know, that's that's a personal choice, but either way it goes, if you put on 30 or if you put on 50, you need to be mindful of reapplying it. You know, regularly. You know we all sweat. If you're in the water, whether that be a lake or a pool or the ocean, it's still going to wear off, even if it says waterproof, like it's going to come off for sure. So reapplication, I would say probably every two hours, to be on the safe side. And then, obviously, if you're outside doing a lot of physical activity and you're sweating and your clothes are dripping. In those circumstances, you know, put more on more often.

Rae:

Yeah, that totally makes sense and as an esthetician, I'm very glad you touched on the reapplication process. One thing I love to encourage people is to find something that's convenient for them. You know, these days we have a multitude of different options. There are compacts that have SPF and powder form that you can reapply over your makeup. They have sticks that you can just keep in your purse. So really there's something that anyone can find that can help them with that reapplication process. So it's not as tedious or as difficult as you know, putting lotion on over a full face of makeup, which just seems really difficult.

Kate:

Yeah, absolutely. I didn't know that there were powders. That's awesome.

Rae:

Yeah, they make all kinds of new options. I love how innovative people get with these things, because you know, once they see an opportunity in the market, someone's going to fill it, and I'm glad that they're actually taking those opportunities Totally Within. That too are there. Are there any risk factors that may make someone more susceptible to burning?

Kate:

Yes, absolutely so. People who have fair skin, if they have light colored eyes, like blue or green, light colored hair, specifically blonde or red hair. In addition, if you have freckles, if you don't tan as well or if you burn very easily, if you have an abundance of moles or even if you have a family history of abnormal moles, any childhood exposure to sunburn that caused blistering on more than one occasion, these are all risk factors, and that is also me speaking from experience. Unfortunately, I have had melanoma myself and I have to be that much more protective of my skin. Now that I've had it, I'm always going to be at higher risk for getting it again. Essentially so, lots of SPF application with broad spectrum and then lots of skin surveys as well.

Rae:

Yeah, absolutely Well. Thank you for sharing that with us. One of the things that I'm curious about within keeping the skin protected from the sun we talk a lot about SPF and reapplying those things, but are there other ways that people can protect their skin from the sun, like physical barriers?

Kate:

Oh for sure. And, that being said, I would still put the sunscreen on. And then, in addition, for instance, if I'm in the, I'm working outside in my yard. Um, I really like to plant flowers, specifically, and so I'm always with a baseball cap on, or even a bigger brimmed hat, um, so hats, long sleeves, um, scarves, gloves. Now, we do live in Texas, so I myself am not going to put all that on, but at the same rate, that will give you, you know, more protection from the sun for sure.

Kate:

And especially if you're a cancer patient who is immunocompromised, I think you need to go to all efforts possible to protect yourself.

Rae:

That makes sense. And one thing I like to remind people of is that if you're experiencing hair loss, it can be easy to forget to put SPF on your head, um, even because you know you think I'm wearing a hat or I'm wearing a scarf or have a wig on, but with the skin being so sensitized, it's always a good idea to put SPF on the scalp as well.

Kate:

For sure. Absolutely, gosh. I would think I was reading on the. There's so many different websites, by the way, that people can get this information. The FDA is very helpful the American Cancer Society, the National Institute on Health, and what I was reading about the other day is that women, most commonly, are found to have some type of skin cancer on the backs of their legs, whereas men are often found to have it on their back, and it's very interesting to me, you know you think about. Oh, it's on the backside. Very interesting to me, you know you think about. Oh, it's on the back side, so I don't need to worry about getting any sunscreen on that or covering up so to speak and it was just interesting to to find out that that's.

Kate:

Those are very common areas to find skin cancer yeah, that is really interesting.

Rae:

Probably even areas that you know while you're applying you wouldn't even think necessarily, oh did, did I cover all of that.

Kate:

Well, right, yeah, you're thinking, oh, it's in the shadow, it's fine, when in fact, no, it's. It's just as easily exposed as any other apparent area. Yeah.

Rae:

What about if the sun isn't out, If it's kind of cloudy? Is it still as important to put on all of that SPF?

Kate:

Absolutely so. You know, the solar rays obviously are going to be much more intense the lower you are in latitude. So your geographical location. But in addition, on clear days, yes, you're going to have much more sun intensity, whereas on a cloudy day the intensity factor is not as great. However, you're still getting that exposure, so you still need to be mindful and protect yourself. You can absolutely still burn when it's cloudy outside.

Rae:

Wow, okay. So all kinds of weather, pretty much while the while it's daytime. Yep, okay, basically that's good to know.

Kate:

I mean, I do say you know, it's very helpful for me to go out. If I'm going to work in the garden, I'm going to go out in the morning because, let's say, you go out at uh, I don't know 9am, right, and you, you spend an hour out there. That equates to the same amount of intense exposure to the UVA, uvb rays as it would for 15 minutes at one o'clock in the afternoon.

Rae:

Yeah, that's a great tip. I feel like having several different options to make those modifications, rather than just be like, yeah, somehow make your whole day around reapplying your SPF every two hours. Yeah, that's a really good point. Any other tips from your experience that you can share with our guests?

Kate:

Just it's. I feel like it is a a matter of convenience, like you were talking about, if there is a specific type of sunscreen that you are willing to carry with you not necessarily live in the car, because that doesn't do it any good, but you know something that is compact, easy to put on and an easy reminder for you If it's out of your way and inconvenient likely. You're not going to change your habits, so make things easier on yourself. You know, like you were saying before, they produce it in so many different forms now, so just make your life easier by adapting to a more healthy application of putting on sunscreen.

Rae:

Essentially, I love that. Kate, thank you so much for joining us. It's been a pleasure to have you, and we know that this information is going to be really useful.

Kate:

Thanks for having me this was awesome.

Rae:

Thank you for joining us. We hope you found this information helpful. It's your reviews and feedback that help make this podcast even better. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone who might benefit. Until next time, take care, stay radiant and we'll see you soon.