DR. LARRY BISHOP: Remember to Protect Yourself From the Sun During Upcoming Season of Outdoor Fun

We want to protect our skin, but the environment as well!

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – As we head into the peak season for outdoor fun, we Floridians deserve a pat on the back. 

We are, for the most part, worldly wise as to the dangers the sun poses to our health, and we protect our skin at a much higher rate than our northern friends who come to our sunny beaches to have fun, only to get that cooked-lobster, bright red hue. 

We also deserve credit for being among the more environmentally conscious states, and as the issues of the environmental dangers of some sunscreen ingredients have hit the news, we have started to adapt. 

We want to protect our skin, but the environment as well!

Here are some great guidelines to help you protect your skin and the planet, as well in the upcoming “Fun Season”:

• When possible, avoid the peak hours of sunlight, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Wear sun-protective clothing such as a rash guard or any one of the many commercially available sun shirts, which will provide sun protection and limit the amount of sunscreen needed to protect your skin.
• Remember to protect your eyes, and to account for reflected light off the beach and the water. 
• Avoid the sunscreens that contain Oxybenzone or Octinoxate. Each has been shown to stress the highly sensitive coral reefs, as well as other sea life. Hawaii, Key West and some beaches on the Yucatan peninsula have passed measures to ban these ingredients. Other ingredients are likely to follow, including Titanium Dioxide, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene. 
• Don’t forget your lips.
• Protect your head as well by wearing a wide-brimmed hat. 
• Finally, don’t forget to reapply your environmentally friendly sunscreen every two hours. Otherwise, the sun, sand and sweat will degrade your sunscreen and you will end up looking like our lobster-like northern visitors.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Larry Bishop, MD, Health First Dermatology

Although I was born in Pasadena, California, I grew up in Westerville, Ohio near Columbus. I attended Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio and earned a double major in both Zoology and Chemistry.

I attended medical school in Dayton, Ohio at Wright State University, where I graduated with honors (Alpha Omega Alpha).

I then went on to the University of Pennsylvania, where I completed a surgical internship, and followed that with my residency in Dermatology at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.

While at Wilford Hall, I got to serve as an exchange resident at the world’s oldest hospital dedicated to dermatology, Hospital Saint-Louis in Paris, France.

I spent nine spectacular years in the Air Force, where I served in California, Texas and finally the panhandle of Florida.

I was lucky enough to have traveled all the way around the world, go to all of the continents of the world except Antarctica, serve as Bob Hope’s personal physician for one of his USO tours, and get selected as one of the top flight surgeons in the Air Force.

I landed here in Melbourne in 1995, and each year has gotten better and better. The people of Melbourne are in a class by themselves. This has proven to be the perfect place to raise a family and live and work. I consider myself lucky to be here and work with and care for such high-quality people.

My areas of special interest are cosmetic and surgical dermatology, including Mohs Micrographic Surgery, and non-surgical rejuvenation of the face.

In my spare time, I like to run, bicycle, fish, and travel. I also enjoy water sports, including wakeboarding and kiteboarding, and plan to learn to surf in the near future.

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