00:00Welcome back to AccuWeather Early, thanks for watching on this Friday morning.
00:09Alright, if your job involves working outdoors, you face hours of sun exposure and a much higher risk of skin cancer.
00:16Here with important tips to protect yourself is Dr. Deborah Sarnoff, the president of the Skin Cancer Foundation.
00:25Thank you so much for joining us here, doctor, on this Friday.
00:30How much does working outside actually increase your risk of skin cancer?
00:37You know, there's about a 60% increase in developing either a basal cell skin cancer or a squamous cell skin cancer if you work outdoors.
00:47And it affects so many people.
00:49You know, 45 million people in the U.S. work outdoors.
00:531.3 billion people in the world work outdoors.
00:57So we're talking about a lot of people, increased risk.
01:01You mentioned some of it, but what types of skin cancer are most common among outdoor workers?
01:07Right. We call them the non-melanoma skin cancers.
01:11So primarily basal cell skin cancer and squamous cell skin cancer.
01:16Those are the two most common types that we see a bump up when you're working outdoors.
01:21Are sub-professionals or age groups at greater risk than others?
01:27Definitely. You know, first of all, anyone can get skin cancer.
01:31Young people, older people, even people of color.
01:35That's a risk.
01:36However, very typically we'll see maybe older people, males more than women, maybe working outdoors more, maybe fair-skinned people.
01:46But it's important for listeners to know that really it can strike anybody.
01:51And it's really important to protect oneself to try to minimize the risk.
01:57Well, what are those daily steps that workers can take to protect their skin?
02:01Well, that's a great question.
02:02And ideally, everybody should think about, if you're working outdoors especially, a really good sunscreen.
02:09At least SPF 50, we believe, because you're going to be outdoors.
02:14If you sweat a lot, you need to remember to reapply just about every two hours.
02:20A wide-brim hat to shield the face.
02:23We like protective clothing.
02:25The tighter the weave, the darker the color.
02:28And there's really nice clothing now that's called, you know, has an ultraviolet protection factor, UPF, that you can see on the label.
02:37We'd like a UPF of 50.
02:40Sunglasses wide around the face that block the ultraviolet light.
02:44And if you can, you want to seek shade.
02:47Take little breaks, maybe under a tent, an awning, someplace shady with trees so that you don't have full-time exposure.
02:54And if you really can, you want to do primarily earlier in the morning or later in the day and avoid peak hours as much as possible to minimize that exposure.
03:05Certainly, prevention is so important.
03:07Another way to prevent skin cancer is getting checked.
03:11Let's talk about how often you should get your skin checked, especially for those that are outdoors.
03:18And then, what's the most important message you want them to remember?
03:22That's a great thing to talk about, Bernie.
03:26And here it is.
03:27I always tell patients, try to remember to get your birthday suit examined once a year professionally by a dermatologist.
03:36At home, you should try to do a body check once a month.
03:41Look at yourself or have your significant other help you look at you in the places where you can't see.
03:46And if you see anything that's new, changing, unusual, call your dermatologist.
03:53Make it clear to the receptionist.
03:54You see something new that you're worried about so that you don't have a very long wait to get in and get it checked out.
04:00Because early detection, cure, and everybody's going to be fine.
04:05It's when you ignore those signs that things can happen that are not good.
04:09So, you want to get checked out.
04:11And some people have to go more than once a year.
04:13If you've had a history of skin cancer, a very strong family history, your dermatologist will let you know what the correct interval would be.
04:22Dr. Deborah Sarnoff, president of the Skin Cancer Foundation, thank you so much for joining us.
04:27Thanks so much for having us today.
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