As the sun continues to heat up the Okanagan Valley, the month of May is skin cancer awareness month, and Kelowna doctor Ben Wiese is reminding locals to stay protected from direct sunlight.
Wiese tells Black Press Media that people should not underestimate Mother Nature ahead of what’s expected to be a very hot and very dry summer in Kelowna.
Health Canada recommends a minimum of SPF 30 sunscreen when going outdoors, but Wiese believes people living in the Okanagan’s semi-desert should look for something higher.
“Here in Kelowna, I would say between 40 and 50 SPF is the magic number,” said Wiese. “… If you’re sweating or swimming you need to re-apply every two hours.”
According to Wiese, melanoma skin cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world, but is also one of the more treatable cancers when it’s detected early.
He said early detection is the key component to saving lives impacted by melanoma, and that if it’s detected at its earliest stage, people have a 99.9 per cent chance of beating it.
Moles can be a sign of skin cancer, especially individuals who are fair skinned with blue eyes and have more than 40 moles across their body.
“Search for your ugly duckling,” said Wiese. “The mole on your body that looks completely different to anything that you have on your skin. You’re not going to be covered in them, but there’s maybe one or two you’re looking for that seem odd or very different.”
To best protect yourself from the sun, Wiese said finding the right sunscreen is crucial, and that people often don’t understand its importance. He added there’s no such thing as too much sunscreen.
“Unfortunately, most of us are not protecting our skin adequately. People are using a dab of sunscreen and it just doesn’t give us the protection that we think it does. It gives people a false sense of security,” explained Wiese. “A teaspoon a day keeps skin cancer away.”
With more and more patients coming through his doors year after year, Wiese said skin cancer is on the rise. He said melanoma cases have tripled since the 1990s, with roughly 1,300 Canadians dying each year.