A bright, sunny summer day hardly seems like something to fear. You don't hear the weather reporter telling you to take seek shelter like they would do in the case of an approaching hurricanne, but maybe thats what you should hear. Exposure to the sun can cause sun burn, skin cancer and eye damage. Combine it with high temperatures that typically accompany sunny summer days in many regions and heat exhustion and heat stroke may also occur.

Sunburn is an injury to the resulting from excessive exposure to the sun's energy. Sunburns ae usually first or second degree burns, characterized by redness, swelling, pain, systemic fever and headache.

"Skin cancer is the uncontrollable growth of abnormal cells in a layer of the skin", according to the American Society For Dermatological Surgery. A common cause of some types of skin cancer is excessive exposure to the sun's energy. The most common, basal cell carcinoma is characterized by an open sore that bleeds, oozes or crusts for prolonged periods, reddish patches, a shiny bump, a pink growth with a slightly elevated rolled border and a crusted indentation in the center or a scar - like area.

Both sunburn and many forms of skin cnacer have a common cause and some practicle prevention measures are common to both.

Stay out of the sun. Okay, that is the best advise, but it's not really practical for you sun loving beach goers. When it gets down to it, you are going to go to the beach and and you are going to soak up some rays. Not only that, but if it is a weekend youare going to go to the beach early, before the parking lots fill-up and you will stay at least through the hottest part of the day ( like the mad dogs and Englishmen) so that you can cool off in the water. Despite the fact that sunbathing and tanning expose your to a higher risk of skin cancer, sunburn and accelerate the skins aging process, you still want that beautifully sexy, golden brown, tanned skin.

So what next? Cover-up and do the sunscreen thing. If you are not going to stay out of the sun, sheild your skin from it. Wearing long tightly woven clothing can protect you from some of the sun's damaging rays. Some of them will penetrate anyway, as for that all to common t-shirt worn over swimsuits while bathing, it will only block about half of the burning UVB rays and even less of the deeper penetrating, cancer causing UVA rays. Dar colored clothing provides slightly better protection than light. The sun absorbing qualities of make them hotter, not what you want to keep cool in hot weather. There is some good news on the clothing front, new farbrics engineered to protect from the sun are becoming more available.

Sunscreens help. Hold on though, most will only help prevent sunburn. They do little or nothing to block the cancer causing UVA rays. In fact several studies have correlated the increased use in sunscreens with an increase in skin cancer. The idea being that people are lured into a false sense of security, since they are not being burned. They increase their exposure to the sun not realizing that damage is being done that doesn't show-up immediately. Some newer sunscreens are significantly more effective in blocking UVA rays. They contain an ingredient called avobenzone or Parsol 1789. For you sunscreen to work, use alot and use it often. Use about an ounce to cover the entire body. Re-apply after swimming (it might not be necessary after a "quick dip"), toweling off or anything that works up a sweat. Be cautious of claims of water resistance.

SunGlasses

Wear the shades. Especially at the beach or on the water. The reflectance of these surfaces make eye damage a real danger. No, those lifeguards don't just wear those dark or mirrored shades so no one can tell which bod they are scoping.

Seek Shelter

No, not in the basement. Try an umbrella or one those lean-to things. Hide in the cabanna or under a canoe. Truthfully most palm tree don't seem to give much shade