hats for outside

[spro]

It has to be more common for us to shield ourselves. Many of us with fairer skin do not just get a tan, we get skin cancer. A little on the nose and the top of the ears. Then there is the back of the neck. Many of us are old enough to know others who were brought down by skin cancer. It is not weird to wear a hat with a back flap. Your arms should be coated with some spf and they are washed easy but our dear old head. You get a melanoma on the back of your neck, don't deal with it, you're die ing.
Think about it or look at the military headgear for troops of every country, neck protection in blazing sun. How is it that ball caps seem enough when regular mowing or gardening actually means many hours in direct sun. Why were the cowboy and sombreros wide ? They didn't even know the word "cancer" but they knew death.

[RONALD]

As a teenager I had a bad case of acne, and finally decided to go to a Dermatologist. In those days, the 1950's, the standard treatment for acne was a series of X-rays to the face, chest, and back. I got that tearment, and my acne was reduced somewhat, which was great, but twenty years later I started getting Bascell Carcinomas on my face, chest, and back.

Tho my old Dermatologist denied the X-ray's were the cause, today my Dermatologist believes that was the cause; when I'm outside I always wear a big brimmed straw hat from April thru October. I see my doctor every six months.

I was a redhead in those days, but now, I'm a lot lot "Blonder".

[SteveHGraham]

My mom and her sisters used to go to a shoe store that had an x-ray machine. You could stand on the machine and look at the bones in your feet. They would play on it as long as they wanted.

Now when I get a dental x-ray, the hygienist practically jumps in a lead bunker. Things have certainly changed.

[tornitore45]

In the Science and Technology Museum in my hometown, Milano, there was a 10" x 10" screen mounted high. You inserted your hand and observed your bones.

[spro]

That is interesting and all these replies are too. It is a valid point; UV rays, X rays and what they do after time.

[steamandbonsai]

As an x-ray tech, I know a little.....naturally we get a lot of questions in a work day. One of our go-to(s) is to give "dose equivalents from natural background radiation." We all get varying doses of ionizing (potentially unhealthy) radiation from space, which is called "cosmic radiation"--similar to x-ray (which is man-created). the higher in altitude you are, the more cosmic radiation you receive. We say that an airplane flight from L.A. to New York is about equivalent to a chest x-ray. Everybody (average) receives the equivalence of 1 chest x-ray every 1 to 4 days from natural background radiation (at what altitude, I don't know.....) and a CAT scan gives a much higher dose: about 70 chest x-rays equal one chest CT exam.....fascinating? makes you wonder about airline pilots.....but this also shows that we can generally take a lot more radiation than we might expect....of course our genetics and other environmental conditions contribute also....

[steamin10]

I have a good farmers tan, if there is anything good about it. Anymore I tend to wear long sleeved cotton button up shirts to avoid too much sun here in the changable Midwet. I buy a new straw hat from the farm store with wide brims, like an islander hat. It does the job for me, and I dont mind the rather light weight hat, the cowboy models being hefty by comparison. My Avatar is wearing the wider brimmed hat from my collection, my daily fav being bought in Amish country.

I lost a friend a couple years back. He worked in California cleaning power line insulators. He said he had a constant sunburn being freckled and blond haired. He quit after the4rth spot of skin cancer was carved off of him. working all day in high sun was no longer an option. Sadly a small cancer got into his corotid artery and carried cells to his brain, and it took him down. He was a fussy wood worker, and a fine display cabinet we built is in my living room, displaying some collections.

[spro]

Dave. It is well we know this. About 18 years ago a friend noticed my arms. He was a fair red head Man about the best guy/ tech you could be around. Anyway, he had been battling skin cancer before me thinking about it. I did say some were burn marks which never tan but he noted the others. He showed me his arm and indeed the same flakey patches. It took a number on him, such a cool guy and a warning.