How to Protect Yourself from the Adverse Effects of Excessive UV Light Exposure

It is well known that the light coming from the sun has many benefits for a person’s well-being. It is essential for vitamin D production in our body, increases calcium, enhances phosphorous absorption from the food we eat and has significant roles in blood cell formation, skeletal development, and immune function.

 

But, while the sun provides all these excellent health benefits, too much exposure to it also causes irreversible problems for an individual’s health; that’s why some people apply window tinting in Gloucester even at the comfort of their own home!

 

Adverse Effects of Excessive Exposure to UV Rays

 

One of the primary causes of skin cancer is excessive exposure to ultra-violet (UV) radiation. These UV rays aren’t just rays but are categorized into two types—UVA and UVB—and these are the ones that can affect your skin. UVB rays have slightly more energy than UVAs; that is the most cause of skin cancer, but UVAs can cause it too.

 

Other skin damages that these harmful rays cause are sunburns, premature skin aging, freckles, and solar brown spots, to name a few. And, yes, aside from skin damage, it can have effects on the eyes, too. Harmful UV rays can cause the cornea to become inflamed or impair your vision due to cataract formation or tissue growth on the eye’s surface, also known as pterygium.

 

As much as the sun’s ray provide people with good health, with too much exposure it can also weaken the immune system and make vaccines less effective.

 

Ways to Protect Yourself from These Risks

 

Always think of how to better take care of yourself every time you expose yourself to the sun through these ways:

 

Wear Sunglasses

 

Protect your eyes and the skin around them by wearing sunglasses with protection against harmful UV rays. There are brands in the market that offer eyeglasses, lenses, and contact lenses with UV protection, but be mindful of the product labels. Confirm with legitimate eyecare professionals and eye care stores from authentic products.

 

Apply Sunscreen

 

Most people think, especially women, that sunscreens are applied as the first line of defense against harmful UV rays—but no, it shouldn’t be. Applying sunscreen should be seen as an additional way of protecting yourself from the skin damages UV rays may cause, meaning sunscreens do not and cannot block all of them.

Almost all products like lotions, facial creams, ointments, gels, lip balms, and sprays are incorporated with sunscreen properties. But like what was mentioned earlier, check the labels. Boots star rating system is used to help people in the UK identify the level of protection in a sunscreen product. It describes the UVA and UVB protection that a product offers. It has a star rating that ranges from 0-5, 5 being the highest.

 

If a sunscreen product has a star rating of 5, it automatically means that it has more than 90% UVA protection than UVB. Aside from that, it would help if you also looked for the SPF or sun protection factor, which on the other hand, is about the level of UVB protection. SPFs range from 2 to 50+, 50+ as the highest level of UVB protection.

 

Install Window Tints

 

Whether it’s a glass window, car window, or your office’s wall-to-ceiling windows, do install window films to lessen the risks of excessive UV exposure. Window tinting in Portsmouth explains that dyed window films can help block harmful UV rays from penetrating through the glass windows of your home and vehicles. And protect you and your family from possible home interior damages, aside from protecting you from possible skin damage.

 

Learn more about protecting yourself from harmful UV rays through this infographic.