UV Safety: Tips to Protect Your Skin from the Sun’s Harmful Rays

The Washington DC VA Medical Center’s Dermatology Team, led by Dr. Mary Maiberger, offers important information, below, for Veterans and their families to stay safe. 

Why practice sun safety?

You should protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays. Here is why it is important:

• The sun's harmful rays can cause skin cancer.
• Everyone is at risk of getting skin cancer; approximately 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer during their lifetime.
• Skin cancer is one of the more preventable cancers.
• When you protect your skin from the sun's dangerous rays, you reduce your risk of developing skin cancer as well as premature skin aging.

To protect your skin from the sun's harmful rays, dermatologists recommend that you:

Seek Shade

Seek shade when appropriate, remembering that the sun’s rays are the strongest between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. You can also look at your shadow. Any time your shadow is shorter than you, seek shade.

 Wear Sun-Protective Clothing

Wear a lightweight and long-sleeved shirt, pants, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses with UV protection, when possible. For more effective protection, select clothing with an ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) number on the label.

Apply Sunscreen

To all skin not covered by clothing, apply a sunscreen that offers:

• Broad-spectrum protection
• Water resistance
• SPF of 30 or higher
• Remember to reapply sunscreen every 2 hours or after swimming or sweating.

When should I use sunscreen?

You should apply sunscreen every day on skin not covered by clothing if you will be outside. The sun emits harmful UV rays year-round. Even on cloudy days, up to 80% of the sun’s harmful UV rays can penetrate the clouds. 

How much sunscreen should I use, and how often should I apply it?

• At a minimum, most adults need about 1 ounce of sunscreen — roughly the amount to fill a shot glass — to fully cover skin not covered by clothing. Depending on your body size, you may need more sunscreen to protect your exposed skin from the sun’s harmful rays.
• Don't forget to apply it to the tops of your feet, your neck, your ears, and the top of your head.
• Apply sunscreen to dry skin 15 minutes before going outdoors.
• Skin cancer also can form on the lips. To protect your lips, apply a lip balm or lipstick that contains sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher.
• When outdoors, reapply sunscreen approximately every two hours, or after swimming or sweating, according to the directions on the bottle.

Broad-spectrum sunscreens protect against UVA and UVB rays. What is the difference between the rays?

Sunlight consists of two types of harmful rays that reach the earth — UVA rays and UVB rays. Overexposure to either can lead to skin cancer. In addition to causing skin cancer, here’s what each of these rays does:

• UVA rays (or aging rays) can prematurely age your skin, causing wrinkles and age spots, and can pass through window glass.
• UVB rays (or burning rays) are the primary cause of sunburn and are blocked by window glass.

There is no safe way to tan. Every time you tan, you damage your skin. As this damage builds, you speed up the aging of your skin and increase your risk for all types of skin cancer.

What type of sunscreen should a person use?

The best type of sunscreen is the one you will use again and again. Just make sure it offers broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB) protection, has an SPF of 30 or higher, and is water resistant.

The kind of sunscreen you use is a matter of personal choice and may vary depending on the area of the body to be protected. Available sunscreen options include lotions, creams, gels, ointments, wax sticks, and sprays.

• Creams are best for dry skin and applying on the face.
• Gels are good for oily complexions and hairy areas, such as the scalp or male chest.
• Sticks are good to use around the eyes.
• Sprays are sometimes useful since they can be easy to apply.  However, the challenge in using sprays is that it is difficult to know if you have used enough sunscreen to protect all sun-exposed areas of the body. To evenly cover the skin and use spray sunscreen safely, follow these tips:
  • Spray until your (or your child’s) skin glistens, then rub the sunscreen into the skin to get even coverage.
  • Do not apply spray sunscreen while you are smoking, near heat, or close to an open flame.
  • Avoid inhaling spray sunscreen by never spraying it around or near the face or mouth and not spraying into wind.

What is the difference between chemical and physical sunscreens?

The primary difference between these sunscreens is the active ingredients they contain. If the active ingredient in your sunscreen is titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, or both, you have a physical sunscreen. Dermatologists recommend physical sunscreens, also called mineral sunscreens, for people with sensitive skin.

If your sunscreen doesn’t contain titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, you have a chemical sunscreen.

Some sunscreens are called hybrids because they contain one or more active ingredients found in chemical and physical sunscreens. To see what active ingredients your sunscreen has, look at the section on the container labeled “Active Ingredients.”

Whether you have a chemical, physical, or hybrid sunscreen, they all form a protective layer on your skin that absorbs the sun’s rays. In addition to absorbing the sun’s rays, physical sunscreens reflect the sun’s rays.  Any of these sunscreens can effectively protect you from the sun if you select one that is broad spectrum, water resistant, and has an SPF 30 or higher.

Is a high-number SPF better than a low-number one?

Dermatologists recommend using a sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, which blocks 97% of the sun's UVB rays. Higher-number SPFs block slightly more of the sun's UVB rays, but no sunscreen can block 100% of the sun's UVB rays.

It is also important to remember that high-number SPFs last the same amount of time as low-number SPFs. A high-number SPF does not allow you to spend additional time outdoors without reapplication. As many individuals only apply about 20–50% of the amount of sunscreen needed to achieve the amount of SPF on the label, application of high-SPF sunscreens helps to compensate for this under-application. 

Adapted from AAD (American Academy of Dermatology), July 2025; https://www.aad.org/media/stats-sunscreen