-
May 10, 2008 5:59 pm US/Eastern
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Lips Often Forgotten When Protecting From Sun
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBS) ―
With summer around the corner, it is time to start thinking about protecting your skin from the sun. There is one critical part of the body that experts say most people forget, and it can be dangerous.
Lauren Fernandez always slathers on sunscreen to protect herself from sun damage. "Both my grandfather and my grandmother have had skin cancer," she said. "And also, I see people who spend a lot of time in the sun are aged so much more than people who aren't."
There is a part of her face, however, that Fernandez never focuses on, and she is not alone. Research from the University of Texas at Galveston shows that more than 70 percent of Americans do not apply any sort of lip protection, even when bathing in the sun.
"It can be quite dangerous," said dermatologist Dr. Richard Wagner. That is because lips are susceptible to cancer, especially squamous cell cancer. While doctors say that the risk is not as great as getting cancer on the skin, "the lip can be more dangerous than skin cancer on the skin because it is more likely to spread to other parts of the body," according to Wagner.
Dallas dermatologist Dr. Christine Brown told CBS 11 News, "If you take all patients across the board with lip cancer, their five-year survival is 85 percent. But, if it's caught late and it's already spread to the lymph nodes, then the survival rate drops down to 50 percent."
Brown warns to be extra careful if you wear shiny lip balms and glosses that do not contain SPF. She said, "By applying a clear, shiny lip gloss to the surface of the lip, you are going to increase light penetration the same way that you would by applying a tanning oil on the skin's surface."
You can still wear your favorite lip gloss in the sun, just with extra protection underneath. Wagner said, "I recommend specialized lip products instead of regular sunscreen for the lips, because the lip products tend to be stickier and last better."
Brown said, "As long as you have a product that is designed to protect the lip from UV light exposure, you can apply gloss over that. I would make sure that it's an SPF30."
And do not forget to regularly reapply. "It may wear off eating, drinking," said Wagner.
Fernandez said that she will protect her lips from now on. "I'll definitely think about putting a bottom layer of protection on my lips before I put lip gloss or anything else on top," she said.
Dermatologists stress that it is not just women wearing lip gloss who should remember lip protection. It is a product that everyone should apply daily.
The symptoms of lip cancer include bleeding, scaling or the formation of a bump or nodule. If you have any of these symptoms, consult a dermatologist as soon as possible.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)