Skin cancer is most often associated with excessive sunlight exposure without proper sunscreen. While this is a dominant risk factor for developing skin cancer, there are many other sources of skin cancer that patients are not aware of. The more risk factors you eliminate from your life, the more likely that you can prevent skin cancer.
1. Fluorescent Lights
Energy-efficient light bulbs can cause skin cancer if you are too close to them for too long. By staying at least two feet away from the fluorescent light bulbs, you will be able to reduce your risk of skin cancer. Also, if you must be close to a light bulb, use an incandescent bulb instead of a fluorescent bulb.
2. Tanning Beds
Indoor tanning via a tanning bed is one of the worst sources of skin cancer. Over 400,000 cases of skin cancer in the United States are attributable to tanning beds.
3. Viagra
Those who take Viagra are more likely to develop melanoma, which is the worst type of skin cancer. Similar medications may carry the same risk, but research was only conducted on Viagra.
4. The Wrong Sunscreen
Sunscreen is an important part of lowering your skin cancer risk, but some forms of sunscreen can increase your risk of developing skin cancer. These include sunscreen containing retinol and sunscreen containing vitamin A. These ingredients, when exposed to sunlight, speed up the development of skin tumors. Therefore, you should read the ingredients on sunscreen and not use sunscreen that contains these ingredients.
5. HPV
Contracting the sexually transmitted disease known as HPV can increase your risk of cervical cancer and give you genital warts. There is also another version of HPV that is not sexually transmitted, will cause non-genital warts and increases your risk of skin cancer. These are contracted through contact with someone else who has the disease, so try to avoid touching someone who has warts.
6. Excessive Sunlight
If skin cancer runs in your family, you may want to take steps to avoid too much exposure to the sun. Living farther away from the equator and not living at a high altitude can reduce your exposure to sunlight. But no matter what you do, make sure to wear sunscreen and sunglasses.
Even if you are not a fair-skinned individual, you should still make sure to wear sunscreen. Many people believe that having darker skin protects them from skin cancer. But the melanin found in the skin is often not enough and you should make sure to still wear sunscreen. Contact a dermatologist at Vail Dermatology for more information.
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