Sun Safety for Children

The Bay Area provides us with, on average, 260 sunny days per year. In summer, we have sun almost every day. Sun gives us vitamin D-good for our bones and overall health. You can get a full dose of vitamin D every day with just 15 minutes of sun exposure. Dermatologists warn us that just one or two blistering sunburns can significantly increase a child's risk for developing melanoma later in life. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the sun damage can accumulate over time and cause other types of skin cancer.Most kids spend much more than 15 minutes outdoors and therefore they need some form of sun protection. Kids learn from us about healthy habits, so start them early on how to protect their skin appropriately.

The best sun protection is to shade one’s self from it altogether.  For example, ideally, you’d shield your child under a wide-brimmed hat, a long- sleeved shirt, and pants. But not all clothes are created equal, with some still allowing sun to penetrate your child’s skin.  You can ensure that your child’s clothes will block sunrays by placing your hand inside and making sure you cannot see it through the garment.

This clothes-shielding technique works great with infants.  But not so well with toddlers or older kids.  I have a 4 year old princess who would never agree to put on pants and or a long-sleeved dress in summer. My 5 year old throws away his hat off since nobody in his class wears one. This leads me to another option—sunscreen.

What Should You Look For In a Sunscreen?
The “SPF” number (sun protection factor) tells you how much longer you can stay in the sun without burning if you apply the sunscreen. In a store, look for an SPF factor higher than 15 and for a “broad spectrum” label. Sunscreens with broad spectrum protect us from both UVA and UVB rays.
If you have never examined your child’s sunscreen, take a look.  Read the list of ingredients. Do you know what are they? Are they safe? Some of them may not be, especially those that release free radicals that can accelerate skin aging and raise one’s risk for skin cancer, or are hormonal disruptors, or may be stored in the body. (The safest sunscreens are the ones that work by reflecting and/or scattering UV radiation. They are so called “physical sunscreens.” Physical sunscreens use the safest active ingredients - titanium dioxide or zinc oxide.
You can read more about safety ratings for individual sunscreens at the Environmental Working Group website www.cosmeticdatabase.com . The Environmental Working Group is a non-profit organization that uses public information to protect public health and environment. The website www.cosmeticdatabase.com provides a database for almost all available cosmetics including sunscreens. The organization provides safety information on all cosmetic ingredients according to available research and provides references.

Caring for A Sunburn
Even the most careful parent can sometimes miss a spot when smearing sunscreen on a wiggling toddler or forget to re-apply sunscreen in the middle of the day. What do you do if your child gets sunburned?

If the skin is unbroken, apply the aloe vera gel on burned skin. If aloe vera does not help to soothe the skin, apply a cool compress, soaked in an herbal tincture that can be purchased in any health food store. Use one part tincture to ten parts of water for your compress. You should refresh the compress as soon as it gets “warm” against the burned skin. An alternative to a compress could be a spray bottle with diluted herbal tinctures. For the tincture use Hypericum (St. John’s Wort) to relieve the pain of the sunburn, Calendula to prevent infection and blisters, and/or Urtical Urens (stinging nettle) to soothe the sting of the burn. 

There are other homeopathic remedies that a child may take if topical applications do not help. 

If the skin is stinging and violently itching, take a homeopathic remedy called Urtica Urens 30C.

If there are blisters on the skin, use Causticum 30C.

If the skin is very red, burning, itching, and the child feels much better from cold applications, give her Cantharis 30C.

Take the homeopathic remedies 3 times a day for a day. If one remedy does not help, switch to another one.

References.