That's My Story

SUNNY SIDE UP!

I was talking to some of our fishermen hanging out at the beach one afternoon swapping stories about the day of fishing. Some of the wives and girlfriendshad joined in and everyone was enjoying tall cold ones.

One of the wives had been laying on a towel listening to the banter and obviously enjoying the afternoon Baja sun. It was obvious she was getting redder every time I glanced at her.

She sat up and said to no one in particular, “Is the reason I get sunburned so easily here because Baja is closer to the Equator?”

Conversation stopped as no one quite knew whether to answer her question with a laugh and a quick one-liner or to take her seriously. She wasn’t joking and even in the shade it was obvious that she had that unmistakable glow of a painful sunburn on it’s way.

Despite perhaps the ditzy-ness of the question, this otherwise intelligent woman had a real concern. I had noticed that she hadn’t used sunscreen, but instead had put baby oil on herself no doubt to accelerate the tanning process. Everytime I see that I think of basting a turkey.

However, working down here in La Paz, the well-being of our clientele is a real concern. We want everyone going back home with big smiles, perhaps a few extra pounds from the good food and, if they’re lucky some great stories of fishing adventures. Sunburn isn’t on the agenda, but it’s an unavoidable and real danger in a place that’s “so close to the Equator.”

Everyone guards against getting sick from bad water or bad food, but hardly anything thinks about getting sick from the sun. Either short term pain or long term damage and I hate seeing folks waddling around the pool like boiled lobsters or sending them home painfully red.

To that end, I keep a handy supply of extra hats around as well as little sample packs and bottles of sunscreen and pass it out generously. Everyone hits the faces and arms, but I also remind them of the tops of their thighs and especially the tops of their feet which get branded with the criss-cross patterns of their sandals and flip-flops.

Half my time it seems is telling guys to put their shirts back on or lather on more sunscreen. In the case of some of my Alaskan or Canadian friends who’s skin doesn’t see sunshine for months, we literally drag them into the shade after just a few minutes of exposure.

I’m not a dermatologist, but I spend a good portion of my year and most of my day in the sunshine working on, near or under the water. I was fortunately born with brown skin and spent most of my early years also out in the sun. However, I’ve already had my first little bout with skin cancer (just a little spot), and as I get older, I’m growing more heady about how I treat my skin down here.

In Baja, the sun comes at you from all angles. It hits from the sky and it also bounces up at you reflecting off the water, fiberglass, and other materials. It’s relentless so I don’t head out without my big brimmed had; loose long sleeved shirt; and waterproof sunscreen. Despite that, I still get tanned so the sun is getting through!

I used to be of the mind that as long as I put on enough sunscreen, I’m fine. So I thought.

I went to the Skin Cancer Foundation Website http://www.skincancer.org/sunscreen/sunscreens-explained.html and was surprised at what I found.

Basically, sunscreen blocks the sun and helps prevent sunburn. That is really all it does. It does not prevent skin cancer, but does aid in helping block some of the stuff that can contribute to the Big C.

According to the site: “Sunscreens are chemical agents that help prevent the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation from reaching the skin. Two types of ultraviolet radiation (UVA and UVB) , UVA and UVB, damage the skin and increase your risk of skin cancerskin cancer. UVB is the chief culprit behind sunburn, while UVA rays, which penetrate the skin more deeply, are associated with wrinkling, leathering, sagging, and other effects of photo-aging (over exposure)photoaging. They also exacerbate the carcinogenic effects of UVB rays, and increasingly are being seen as a cause of skin cancer on their own.”

All the mumbo-jumbo about SPF (Sun Protection Factor) is only the measure of a sunscreens ability to protect you from UVB rays…that’s the stuff that burns you and makes you red. It’s not much of a defense at all against the deep damage of it’s counterpart UVA rays which can be causing serious mischief with your skin sans the red flag of a sunburn.

But here’s how the SPF code works. The example given by the Skin Cancer Foundation is this. If it takes 20 minutes for your unprotected skin to get red, SPF 15 theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer or about 5 hours. I have clients that toast up in 10 minutes of Baja sun. SPF 15 would theoretically give them about 2 ½ hours of protection.

But there are caveats. First, no SPF no matter how strong is 100 percent effective. Second, regardless of strength, no sunscreen should be expected to be effective longer than 2 hours so you have to keep lathering it on.

Here’s another danger according to the website. Most folks don’t put on enough to begin with. No, I’m not talking about those weird hand prints and marks showing where you missed! Experts suggest at least using at least an once for each application or you are actually getting only a portion of the SPF protection. For you fishermen, that’s about a shot glass of tequila’s worth!

“During a day at the beach, one person should use one-half to one-quarter of an 8 oz. bottle/” Further, it should be applied about 30 minutes prior to exposure to allow it to properly “bind to the skin.”

Since I hate putting anything even remotely greasy on my skin, I’ve only been using about a squirt of sunscreen of sunscreen. I figured I’m already brown so I don’t need that much. Mistakenly I often waited until I was already in the sun to dab it on when I should have been slathering it on like good barbecue sauce on ribs.

If you do start to toast, it’s obvious. Get out of the sun and into the shade. In actuality, “Sunburn literally cooks the protein in the skin,” according to Dr. Zoe Draelos, clinical associate professor of dermatology at the Wake Forrest University School of Medicine.

The doctor recommends soaking a washcloth in skim milk to soothe skin. The coolness helps with the pain and the milk creates a protein film that helps ease the onset discomfort.

I’m getting older. A lot of my fishing amigos who have been with me for years but are older than me are coming down with one type of skin cancer or another. It’s not pretty and I’ve already lost a few. One after the other.

Being warm and toasty is nice. But, cuidate mucho (be very careful) say my Mexican friends. Even the captains wear long pants and shirts and use sunscreen…the smart ones.

That’s my story. If you ever need to reach me, e-mail me at riplipboy@aol.com