Which types of sun damage lead to skin cancer?
Severe sunburns, the early visible type of damage, may be related to the development many years later of the most dangerous kind of skin cancer called melanoma, which is potentially fatal. Melanomas can develop in all age groups, including teenagers and young adults. Melanomas can spread to other parts of the body. The built-up invisible type of sun damage can lead to skin cancers on the face, ears and neck. Basal cell cancers usually develop in middle life and later life, but can appear in one’s 20’s. These cancers rarely spread to other parts of the body. Their continuous growth makes, however, their removal a necessity. Squamous cell cancers can spread to other parts of the body if they are not treated properly. When should sun protection begin? Sun protection should begin in infancy and continue throughout life. It is estimated that we get about 80 percent of our total lifetime sun exposure in the first 18 years of life. Therefore sun prevention in childhood is very important to pr
