I Should Put Sunscreen WHERE?

When Mom and Dad retired and moved to Florida, Dad was already a pretty good golfer. Mom had never play much, but she took some lessons after they moved, and soon joined a nine hole ladies league. As she improved, she moved up to an 18 hole league. They played for several years on various courses in Florida, and traveled around the country with my Dad playing in amputee tournaments, since he lost a leg to circulatory problems shortly after he retired. When my Dad passed away, Mom moved back up north to be closer to family. After she moved back to the north, she played for a year or two, but eventually gave up the game due to arthritis. A few years ago, she noticed a scab inside her left ear. When the scab did not heal for several months, she decided it was time to see a doctor. After doing some tests, the doctor told her it was skin cancer. Luckily, it was basal cell carcinoma, not the more dangerous melanoma, and was treated fairly easily. According to Medicine Net.com, there is evidence that basal cell carcinoma is promoted not by accumulated sun exposure but by intermittent sun exposure, like that received during vacations. The risk of developing skin cancer is also affected by where a person lives. People who live in areas that receive high levels of UV radiation from the sun are more likely to develop skin cancer. In the United States, for example, skin cancer is more common in Texas than it is in Minnesota, where the sun is not as strong. Most skin cancers appear after age 50, but the sun's damaging effects begin at an early age. It puzzled me at first why she developed skin cancer inside her ear, but as I thought more about it, it began to make sense. As a right handed golfer, she would rotate her head to her left when lining up her putts, so the inside of her left ear was exposed to the sun every time. She always wore a sun visor or a hat to protect her face, but with short hair, there was no protection for the inside of her ear when she turned her head sideways. I'm sure that she never thought to apply sunscreen to the inside of her ear. So here is the lesson to be learned--when you're preparing to go out in the sun and applying sunscreen, don't forget the inside of your ears!