Lip Balm Can Be a Life Saver

When it comes to skin protection most people think of their faces and body. They think of sun block and sunscreen, and of only applying skin protection during summer or when they're out on the beach. More often than not people forget about their lips. In 2008 'Grey's Anatomy' actor Eric Dane talked to OK! magazine about his medical scare involving his lips. Something he had thought was just chapped lipped turned out to be a "malignant tissue caused by sun damage."

A good way to remember to apply an SPF lip balm is to think of your lips the next time you put on your sunglasses. We instinctively shield our eyes from the sun, wear sun glasses to protect them, but don't forget your lips. The lips get as much sun exposure as the rest of your face. So when you reach for you sunglasses, remember to reach for that tube of lip balm too, and like sun block it should be reapplied every few hours.

There are many lip products out there with an SPF of at least fifteen, like Chapstick, Blistex and E.L.F. I recommend keeping a tube with you at all times. I never leave the house without mine. Make sure your lip balm has an SPF, it will say on the tube, otherwise it's pretty much useless.

A few weeks ago I caught the end of a re-run episode of Dr. Oz. He had a few volunteers show what was in their purses and offered healthier alternatives. One item that he mentioned was lip gloss. For a lot of women when their lips get dry and chapped they apply lip gloss instead of lip balm, which could actually cause more harm than good. Think of it like tanning oil. Most of us know that oiling yourself up and laying out in the sun is a bad idea, it'll age you prematurely and could very well lead to skin cancer. As mentioned on Dr. Oz's blog, "Some dermatologists also feel that the shiny nature of lip gloss attracts the rays of the sun, gathering them and focusing them onto the lips like a magnifying glass." So the next time you reach in to your bag for gloss, reconsider and use a lip balm with an SPF instead, at the very least, try using the lip balm underneath your lip gloss. If you can find a lip gloss with an SPF that would be even better.

So remember to protect your lips the way you would protect your eyes from the sun on any given day. The sun isn't dangerous just during the summer months, sun protection is important all year round so long as you're exposed to UVB and UVA rays. Also remember that there's no such thing as too much protection.

Sources:
Susan Evans, MD. "Can Lip Gloss Cause Skin Cancer?" www.doctoroz.com.
NBC Universal, Inc. "Rep Calls Eric Dane Cancer Story A 'Misrepresentation'." www.accesshollywood.com.