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Everyone in Australia gets skin cancer. It's just normal. My grandma had something like 5 or 10 of them removed. In general, kids these days spend less time out

Everyone in Australia gets skin cancer. It's just normal. My grandma had something like 5 or 10 of them removed. In general, kids these days spend less time outside and do understand the value of hats and sunscreen or long sleeves, so it's getting better. The face can be hard, particularly without a hat. I always laugh when people wear those stupid baseball caps instead of proper hats with brims. They think it's 'cool'. Mate, the main person laughing at your 'cool' is future you - dying from skin cancer on your face. "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun." - https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/mad-dogs-and-englishmen.html https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/mad-dogs-and-englishmen....

XorNot 1y ago
Kalahari hats are my go-to when outside these days. https://www.sunsafeaustralia.com.au/headwear/p/uveto-australia-kalahari-hat https://www.sunsafeaustralia.com.au/headwear/p/uveto-austral...
- subpixel 1y ago
  I wear a baseball cap and a hooded sun shirt. Plus mineral sunscreen all over my face and neck. https://hendersonvilleoutfitters.com/products/upf-shirts https://hendersonvilleoutfitters.com/products/upf-shirts
  - contingencies 1y ago
    Technically both of these approaches are not as good as a wide brimmed hat in terms of face protection. However, for some sports it's superior (anything with wind or clearance issues). I'm on a Stetson at the moment after a US trip but usually go for whatever broad brim is available. Buying new ones gets old so going for a 'crushable' model is the go - I like the felt Stetsons. The other benefit from a broad brim is it functions as an auto-umbrella in light weather which is damn cool. Also, hat-on-face is similar to those plane-sleep-eyewear bands.
- whatevaa 1y ago
  Yeah, I wouldn't classify it as a hat anymore. Looks more like a hoodie.
Fire-Dragon-DoL 1y ago
Stupid question since I don't live in Australia. Is the skin cancer a consequence of the sunburn or do they get it without sunburn?
- swores 1y ago
  I can't speak for Australia, but in general you definitely don't need to burn for increased cancer risk - a clear example of that is the fact that artificial UV tanning beds lead to significantly increased rates of cancer despite the fact that they're used in such a way that you tan without going far enough to burn. Although we often think of burning as bad and tanning as good, tanning is nonetheless still actually a symptom of your skin being damaged by the sun - it's just a symptom that looks better than burned skin, to the point that many people think it looks nice enough to be worth the cancer risk (and/or don't understand the risk when they decide to tan).
- LilBytes 1y ago
  You don't need to get sun burns to get skin cancer, but there is of course a strong correlation. Australia does have the highest records of skin cancer diagnosis per capita though, and it has for some time. [1] The reason for it is for a few reasons. A prevalance of outdoors focused lifestyles, exasperated by a higher amount of UV penetration to the ground due to proximity to the equator, and a much smaller/thinner O-zone layer than anywhere else in the world. This applies to both Australia and New Zealand btw. Both due to the location, and man made causes (e.g., CFC's) [2]. Though fortunately, the O-zone layer is getting much better and quite quickly. The article I linked states the ozone layer will be at pre-1980 levels by 2050. Taking this at face value without much scrutiny though. Australian's statistically have fairer skin. I'm half Cypriot by mother's, Norweigan. I did not get my fathers complexion ;-). Throw in the sheer number of people who travel here from places where the ozone is much stronger/better, means people enjoying our lifestyle without the same level of protection warranted. I thiink this risk is overstated though, I made the mistake of not using enough sunscrean or clothing once, and got the most hellish skin burn. You only ever make that mistake once. [1] https://biologyinsights.com/which-country-has-the-highest-rate-of-skin-cancer/ https://biologyinsights.com/which-country-has-the-highest-ra... [2] https://cyclimate.com/article/does-australia-have-an-ozone-layer https://cyclimate.com/article/does-australia-have-an-ozone-l...
ascorbic 1y ago
Why is it particularly bad in Australia? Is it simply that it's the whitest country at that kind of latitude?
- fithisux 1y ago
  Summer in Australia gets more power from sun than summer in e.g. France, because of the elliptic trajectory of earth. ~ 7% more.
- lozenge 1y ago
  They get the worst of the "hole" in the ozone layer.

XorNot 1y ago

Kalahari hats are my go-to when outside these days. https://www.sunsafeaustralia.com.au/headwear/p/uveto-australia-kalahari-hat https://www.sunsafeaustralia.com.au/headwear/p/uveto-austral...

subpixel 1y ago
I wear a baseball cap and a hooded sun shirt. Plus mineral sunscreen all over my face and neck. https://hendersonvilleoutfitters.com/products/upf-shirts https://hendersonvilleoutfitters.com/products/upf-shirts
- contingencies 1y ago
  Technically both of these approaches are not as good as a wide brimmed hat in terms of face protection. However, for some sports it's superior (anything with wind or clearance issues). I'm on a Stetson at the moment after a US trip but usually go for whatever broad brim is available. Buying new ones gets old so going for a 'crushable' model is the go - I like the felt Stetsons. The other benefit from a broad brim is it functions as an auto-umbrella in light weather which is damn cool. Also, hat-on-face is similar to those plane-sleep-eyewear bands.
whatevaa 1y ago
Yeah, I wouldn't classify it as a hat anymore. Looks more like a hoodie.

Fire-Dragon-DoL 1y ago

Stupid question since I don't live in Australia. Is the skin cancer a consequence of the sunburn or do they get it without sunburn?

swores 1y ago
I can't speak for Australia, but in general you definitely don't need to burn for increased cancer risk - a clear example of that is the fact that artificial UV tanning beds lead to significantly increased rates of cancer despite the fact that they're used in such a way that you tan without going far enough to burn. Although we often think of burning as bad and tanning as good, tanning is nonetheless still actually a symptom of your skin being damaged by the sun - it's just a symptom that looks better than burned skin, to the point that many people think it looks nice enough to be worth the cancer risk (and/or don't understand the risk when they decide to tan).
LilBytes 1y ago
You don't need to get sun burns to get skin cancer, but there is of course a strong correlation. Australia does have the highest records of skin cancer diagnosis per capita though, and it has for some time. [1] The reason for it is for a few reasons. A prevalance of outdoors focused lifestyles, exasperated by a higher amount of UV penetration to the ground due to proximity to the equator, and a much smaller/thinner O-zone layer than anywhere else in the world. This applies to both Australia and New Zealand btw. Both due to the location, and man made causes (e.g., CFC's) [2]. Though fortunately, the O-zone layer is getting much better and quite quickly. The article I linked states the ozone layer will be at pre-1980 levels by 2050. Taking this at face value without much scrutiny though. Australian's statistically have fairer skin. I'm half Cypriot by mother's, Norweigan. I did not get my fathers complexion ;-). Throw in the sheer number of people who travel here from places where the ozone is much stronger/better, means people enjoying our lifestyle without the same level of protection warranted. I thiink this risk is overstated though, I made the mistake of not using enough sunscrean or clothing once, and got the most hellish skin burn. You only ever make that mistake once. [1] https://biologyinsights.com/which-country-has-the-highest-rate-of-skin-cancer/ https://biologyinsights.com/which-country-has-the-highest-ra... [2] https://cyclimate.com/article/does-australia-have-an-ozone-layer https://cyclimate.com/article/does-australia-have-an-ozone-l...

ascorbic 1y ago

Why is it particularly bad in Australia? Is it simply that it's the whitest country at that kind of latitude?

fithisux 1y ago
Summer in Australia gets more power from sun than summer in e.g. France, because of the elliptic trajectory of earth. ~ 7% more.
lozenge 1y ago
They get the worst of the "hole" in the ozone layer.