Beyond the Burn: Everyday Sun Exposure & Skin Health

In this episode of Vitals & Voices, we sit down with Nurse Practitioner Tara Lawless to answer a seasonal question that carries year‑round importance—is sunscreen really that big of a deal? Tara breaks down why sun protection goes far beyond avoiding a painful burn, how everyday exposure quietly adds up over time, and what that means for your long‑term skin health.
From understanding ultraviolet (UV) radiation to choosing the right sunscreen and building simple daily habits, this conversation offers a practical, easy‑to‑follow guide for protecting your skin. Whether you’re spending time at the lake, in the car, or just running errands, Tara shares why consistent protection matters and how small changes can reduce your risk of skin cancer and premature skin damage.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why sunscreen is essential and why it’s only part of the bigger picture 
• The difference between UVA and UVB rays and how they affect your skin 
• What to look for when choosing sunscreen
• How and when to properly apply and reapply sunscreen
• Additional ways to protect your skin
• Tips for protecting children and building sun‑safe habits early
• Warning signs on your skin that shouldn’t be ignored

Why This Episode Matters:
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, and much of the risk comes from cumulative sun exposure over time not just occasional burns.  The good news is that protecting your skin doesn’t have to be complicated.
By making sunscreen, protective clothing, and awareness part of your everyday routine, you can significantly reduce long‑term damage and keep your skin healthier for years to come. If you’ve ever wondered whether daily sun protection is worth it or how to do it the right way this episode is your guide to smarter, safer time in the sun.

Vitals & Voices is a podcast powered by Lexington Regional Health Center, offering meaningful health conversations that matter to you. Each episode features authentic stories and expert insights from the people behind the care — including healthcare professionals, wellness advocates, community leaders, and patients — all aimed at helping you live your healthiest, most informed life.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to Vitals and Voices, brought to you by Lexington Regional Health Center. Your community, your health, your care. This is your trusted source for health-related content that matters to you. Each episode, we will bring you real conversations with the voices behind the care, from medical experts and wellness champions to community leaders and patients, sharing insights, stories, and tips to help you live your healthiest life. Whether you're tuning in from Lexington or beyond, we're here to inform, inspire, and connect. Because at LRHC, your health is our priority and your voice matters.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Hello, everyone, and welcome to today's episode. Today, you know, it's summer, so we are talking about sun safety. Is sunscreen really that important? We will learn. So to help us break it down is Tara Lawless. Tara, thanks for being here. Yeah, thanks for having me. So sunscreen, the big question is it really that important? Is it something people overthink? Is there too much hype about us? I mean, tell us all the things.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

I would say there's not enough hype about it. Um, sunscreen's absolutely imperative. Um, it's the most important thing. Um, but something bigger is like the ultraviolet radiation that we're talking about. Um, it's a big picture of it. And that is essentially what damages the skin cells. And that's why you wear sunscreen to help protect against that. So, because sun or skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Really? And I know as we've talked about before, Terry, skin makes up how much percent of our body? I mean, a a lot. I mean, the largest.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

It's the largest organ of the body.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

So and so when you say ultraviolet, otherwise known as UV, it's kind of can you kind of explain to us a little bit about that? Like, can you see it on your weather app what the UV is for that day? Is it more important, you know, those days to wear sunscreen?

SPEAKER_00 1:53

So there's a lot of hype about that recently. I mean, you know, you'll see TikToks or somebody saying, oh, the UV's 11. I'm gonna go outside and tan, which is like the biggest cringe for me as a skincare provider because I'm just like, oh my gosh, you might be young and healthy now, and it's not really gonna cause that much big of an issue currently, except for if you get burns and that accumulates your risk. It's all that accumulation of that sun exposure and damage that is the biggest issue. So there is a lot of, you know, UV, it's ultraviolet radiation, and there are two different kinds. There's UVA, which is what causes the wrinkles in your skin and the photo damage. And then there's UVB, which is causing the sunburns. So there's different kinds of it, and different levels of sunscreen will block different levels of each type of UV radiation.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

Okay. And when people think about sun, at least, you know, around here in Lexington, I think about, oh, I'm, you know, I have a lake day. I'm for sure gonna bring sunscreen that day. But talk to us about, I mean, probably should be wearing it all the time.

SPEAKER_00 2:55

Yes, it's the daily accumulation and the lack of prevention that leads to most of the skin cancers. Yes, it's the, you know, you had the lake day in the summer and you forgot and you maybe had one bad sunburn. That of course is gonna increase your risk of the skin cancers. But what's even more so is riding in your car every day, no sunscreen. Hands, we see it a lot on hands from driving, one side of the face from driving, one side of the arm, also driving. Um, even in the winter, you know, you can get reflection off of snow. It's it's year-round and it's that accumulation of damage that is the most damaging and problematic as we get older.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

So when we're talking sunscreen, obviously knowing the importance of that, what should people look for, you know, when they're at the store?

SPEAKER_00 3:45

So you want a broad spectrum sunscreen that'll cover UVA and UVB. Okay. All right. And it has to be SPF 30 or above.

unknown 3:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:53

And SPF stands for your sun protection factor. Okay. Wow. And you want SPF 30 or above at minimum. So I always recommend, um, especially to my dermatology patients, that their daily moisturizer, like in the morning, has sunscreen in it because there are so many great skincare lines out there now. And everybody's pushing sunscreen so much that if you just already have it mixed in with your morning moisturizer and it's part of your skincare routine, then you don't have to worry about it.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

Especially if you have the makeup, yeah. You want your face to look great.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

You don't want to probably put that on part of your makeup routine, you know, or for men. It's just part of your moisturizing. It's not a big deal. And then you obviously don't need that same moisturizer at night. You can have one without SPF at bedtime. But that doesn't mean then you can just not reapply. And that's the tricky part, is because you really need a reapplication every two years or every two hours, excuse me. So, but like for me in the morning, I'll put my moisturizer on, my makeup. I work inside. I don't really drive around a lot. So I'm good all day. But if I go to my son's soccer game or something, I have to reapply. And it's best if you reapply or even apply for the first time, like 30 minutes before you go outside and are exposed.

SPEAKER_02 5:10

Okay. So it sinks in again. I mean it has time to absorb and protect. So for the listeners that maybe have young kiddos, do you recommend a higher SPF? Is there different types of sunscreen cream vers spray?

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Oh, there's so many different kinds. One of the biggest flaws, though, is the application of sunscreen, is that we don't put enough on. Really? Yes. So they get the SPF rating by using a certain amount per square area on the body. And so you have to match that in order to get that SPF. And really, the research has shown us that we as humans probably apply half that much. Really? So yeah. It's it's a pretty big issue. And so, and there's some powder ones as well that are very common for like young kiddos, they're easier to apply. Yes. Yep, those are really good. That's one people miss a lot of is they they forget to do their parts for women. And women don't tend to wear as many hats as men. And so that's a big deal. But you have to apply enough, and then you also have to reapply frequently. So it doesn't matter to me if you use a gel, if you use a spray, as long as you are applying enough, and it'll tell you on the packaging what that is.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

Okay. We need we need to be reading though. We need to be reading, yes. So I know sunscreen's just part of the story. Tell us a little bit more about, you know, as we're in summer, of just what can people, what else can people do? Is there certain things they can wear?

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Oh, yes, all the clothing. So we're really fortunate. We have a lot of options. There's a huge sun protection clothing line in pretty much any store, long sleeves, anything to protect, you know, hats, sunglasses, even sun exposure can damage your eyes over time. You can end up with cataracts. So it's very important in all different aspects. Um, but there are certain clothing lines that have um a UPF rating, and that depending on what it is, most of the time it's 50 or above, and then it helps reduce things. Like I don't do well in the sun. So I wear long sleeves almost consistently. Like my daughters were very fortunate. They got my husband's skin tone, which turns into this nice bronze. I do not. I am I'm a burner. So I just know I can't be exposed like that. But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna go outside. You know, I still have all the things to do as we all do. So if I'm mowing, I'm gonna wear a wide-brimmed hat, you know, I'm gonna protect my part and I'm gonna protect my neck and I'm gonna have a long sleeve shirt on. I may or may not have pants on, you know, because it's still hot and you still have to, where we talk about that holistic care, you have to be able to make those sacrifices. And what is it that you're gonna do? Would it be best if you had pants on? I mean, probably, but are you gonna then get heat exhaustion because you're too hot? It's a give and take. Right. But you better bet that I'll have sunscreen on my legs. Right. So clothing is is awesome.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Okay. That and hats, it's the time to get out your bucket hat, people. It is, and they're it back in style. So why not? I I agree. Yeah. We talked a little bit about kids, but what else do you think that parents should know? Especially I know even chasing around mine, they hate putting sunscreen on, but they they're used to it by now. But what other, you know, tidbits do we have for them? Are getting outside at certain times of day rather than others?

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Yeah. So if you can miss those like high spikes of UV, that late afternoon, you want to get out in the morning, in the evening are the safest times, honestly. Okay. Um, sunscreen in children less than six months old, we try to avoid. Like I said, the skin is the largest organ of the body, and they're small. And so that's a huge ratio for them. And anything you put on your skin, it's gonna be absorbed in. And so it becomes part of them. So you don't want to be putting a lot of chemicals. Also, why you want to be reading the labels on your sunscreen? You want to know what you're putting into your body. Do your research, understand what you're putting on your body, okay? Just like you would on a lotion. You're not gonna use something toxic on yourself. Right. You need to be aware. So for babies, we don't tend to recommend a lot of sunscreen. We recommend clothing, keeping them out of the direct sunlight, that kind of stuff. Because baby shades too.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Yeah. Yeah. Because you don't want them in that direct sunlight, but you also they can't regulate their temperature as well. So you don't want them in that heat all the time either. So you just have to be aware of that.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Okay. Oh, that's good to know. So, Tara, for those of us who maybe haven't listened to this knowledge because because we have it now, I'm sure that you're seeing patients with with some issues because of the sun. Can you talk about, you know, what what are you seeing and what are what are you recommending to people?

SPEAKER_00 9:53

So there's a couple different things that we see. When we see photo aging, right? So people who were driving, okay, like a truck driver or something, and now they have all these dark spots on their hands, women, especially on our hands, will see these. So that tends to be a cosmetic issue. And uh we have to use lasers, sometimes some creams, that sometimes works, not always lasers more than anything will help control that. But then we also are seeing, of course, your skin cancers. All right. So if you're having a lesion that is changing, growing, wasn't there before, or if it randomly kind of bleeds and you're like, oh, I don't think I scratched that. I don't really know what happened with that. That's something absolutely needs to get checked out. So those are the biggest things we're seeing is somebody might come in and be like, hey, I had this really bad sunburn when I was young and you know, my chest, and now it just feels really rough and irritated. So they might have photo damage on that, or they might just have like, oh, there's this one lesion. We need to screen that for skin cancer.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

And what is a screening for skin cancer look like, or what would a, you know, an initial visit look like?

SPEAKER_00 11:01

So if you're coming in for just an actual, like a full body skin check, you know, you can choose to do a full body or partial, just certain areas. Um, we put you in a gown and we look at all the places. We use um like a magnifying glass, essentially a special, you know, one, and we look at every little piece, all right, which obviously can take a while. Some of us have more spots of concern than others. And that helps us determine okay, are these something that we need to biopsy and send into a lab to see exactly what these cells are? Are they cancer? Are they not? Or is it something that we can just watch with time? Because we recommend annual skin checks because things change. We also want you to know your body. That's the biggest thing.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Certain parts of our body we can't see. Exactly. And that's what we're here for. Yeah. Okay. Tara, I mean, that's really good to know. So learning to protect our skin every day, to use that sunscreen, maybe as much as you don't want it. And then, I mean, staying in the shade. It's just those little things to help.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Reapplying the sunscreen. So it's a huge thing to forget.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

Reapplying. Maybe you set a timer on your phone.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

Right. That's what I tell my kids to do.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

How do you how do your kids do with it? Have you uh are they so used to this by now? Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. Come over here. We're we're wearing this.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

It's probably a little bit ridiculous. Their friends probably make fun of them for it because their mom's crazy about it. Um, but I just it's important.

SPEAKER_02 12:32

And I mean, in your practice of what you see, I mean, you've you've seen the implications that it has on the other hand.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

And I've seen the bad things. And you have gorgeous pretty skin now, and you want that to stay for as long as possible. But if you don't take care of it now, it won't. But you know, you won't see it for many years to come. And so it's that delayed reaction, which is very difficult for teenagers. Yes, I want to sunbathe. Right. So you just have to be on it, on it, on it, you know. So my kids, they want to tan. They want to have that pretty skin. And I'm like, okay, well, they make, you know, sunless tanners, you can have that, but we will not be sitting out and tanning. That is very dangerous for your skin. There's a multitude of studies out there that show that that is extremely harmful and dangerous and not worth the risk. Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

So, Tara, how does someone get in contact with you? Is there a referral? I mean, what does that process look like?

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Yeah, no, it's a great question. So we don't require referrals to be seen. We're happy to see anybody that has concerns or issues with anything on their skin, doesn't have to just be a mole or anything. Okay. Um, and you can just call our wound care clinic over at the hospital and my nurse will get you scheduled.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Okay, and that is so good to know. Tara, any last reminders, you know, for people as we're in the hot, hot summer months.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Drink your water, wear your long sleeves and your hat and reapply your sunscreen.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Okay, you heard it there, folks. Tara, thank you so much for being here. Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me. Yes, lots of good tidbits here. And if you guys would, please like, share, and subscribe to our podcast. Um, we hope that you wear that sunscreen. And if you need anything, we know that Tara and her team are just a phone call away. And until next time, stay well.