Myths about the skin and cancer (2 of 2)
You are safe from cancer as long as you don’t get a sunburn?
The truth is that sunburns make your skin more vulnerable to cancer, BUT UV in sunlight damages the skin whether you get sunburned or not. You can still get cancer even if you avoid sunburns.
The sun has no permanent damage because the skin can quickly regenerate?
Yes the skin can heal the visible damage. This is why sunburns lasts for days. But unknown to us there are underlying damages that accumulates with every exposure to the sun, it is long term and may not be seen immediately. So it is advised to use proper protection (sun block, clothing etc), and still limit direct exposure to the sun even when you are protected.