Woolly Winter Warning: Check & Protect Your Skin Now

When the weather gets cooler, naturally the attention on skin cancer and sun protection disappears. However don’t let the cold weather fool you, winter is one of the more important times of year to focus on skin cancer.

The fact is skin cancers can develop at any time of year. Sun damage to skin over summer in most cases won’t show up overnight. Sun damage is accumulated and can manifest months or even years later. This means winter can be a dangerous time to forget checking your skin.

Another consideration is that whilst we remain heavily clothed in winter to keep warm, the risk that a suspicious spot or mole going unnoticed (especially by those around us) is very high. A larger percentage of skin cancers are usually actually identified by the partner or friend of the person affected. So the less time they get to see your skin, the higher the risk of a suspicious mole going unnoticed.

A full body skin check during winter is just as important as regularly checking your skin in summer. Not only is this important for individuals, but it is also an ideal time for workplaces to run skin cancer screening and awareness programs. Organisations such as Spotscreen reinforce skin cancer initiatives to workplaces throughout the year. This ensures the sun safety message and use of PPE continues throughout the year and not just in the ‘warmer’ months.

So what about skin protection in winter – is this really necessary?

Many still assume that because we are in the middle of the cold and wet season we don’t require sun protection. But what many don’t realise is that even when it is raining or snowing you can still get sunburnt or suffer significant skin damage.

Sun protection is required when the ultraviolet radiation (UV) level is 3 or more. In many areas of Australia, particularly our northern area’s, the UV rarely or never goes below 3 all year. However many people still fail to protect their skin in winter.

According to the ‘Self Reported Health Status 2011-2012’ survey, over 97% of Queenslanders do not wear all 5 forms of sun protection in winter.

What we don’t know is that winter weather may actually increase the negative effects of UV exposure in a number of ways.

Rain, snow, and strong winds can erode sunscreen protection, and up to 80 per cent of UV rays pass or are reflected through the clouds damaging our exposed areas of skin.

I’d strongly recommend that this winter, you keep an eye on the daily UV levels and continue to regularly apply sunscreen every when outdoors (especially your face, ears, lips, and hands).

I’d also highly recommend that you regularly check your skin throughout the cooler months as the earlier a skin cancer is caught, the better the chance of a full recovery.

Stay safe in the sun all year around.

Written by,
Karen Ong
Clinical Director and Skin Screening Specialist at Spotscreen