[SKYVUE]

anic:That's a come-on title, but it's not too serious......yet.

My wife and I enjoy the convertible feature of our Elise, top-down on a sunny summer day. We also just bought a new Miata to extend our convertible adventures.

Unfortunately today, my wife was diagnosed with skin cancer. Fortunately, it's minor and easily treated. The doctor told her to be extremely careful in sun exposure!:no:

Looks grim for top-down driving!:sad:

Has anyone on this forum had the same problem? Have you curtailed the top-down driving? Or sunblock will help? What's the best sun block? How long does it last before it needs to be reapplied?

Thanks for your advice....

-Hal & Terry

 

[BUELL XB12R]

Sorry to hear about your wife, hopefully she gets better soon. It sucks that she won't be able to enjoy any open top motoring for awhile.

 

[...m...]

...my father had a trivial bout with skin cancer about twenty years ago, and he spends every day he can out on his yacht these days, no worries nor special precautions...

 

[milehitom]

Sorry to hear about even a mild diagnosis of skin cancer. Colorado is the skin cancer capital of North America-320 days of sunshine and 15 to 30% less oxygen and less moisture in the atmosphere to filter uv rays at this altitude. You bet sunblock will help! It is so effective that, if used constantly on exposed skin, it will block the absorption of vitamin D (which is a downside-some sun on the skin necessary and good for people). Coppertone Sport is very good and long-lasting. Neutrogena makes an even better sunblock that lasts a very long time. It practically turns to lacquer and takes a little extra scrubbing to get it off, but it has been measured to block the greatest amount of uva and uvb rays. I use Coppertone Sport when I play tennis (and I play a LOT of tennis) because it's non-greasy nature makes it good for gripping a racquet.

Tom

 

[Green Rat]

My wife is a Dermatologist...she will tell you that most people use too low an SPF and don't reapply frequently enough. At a minimum you need to reapply every 2 hours, more frequently if you are swimming or sweating heavily. Furthermore, folks don't apply the sunblock thickly enough. One of those large tubes is only supposed to last for 4-6 applications on an average sized adult.:crazyeyes Remember, ANY tan is the result of the suns rays damaging your skin. As to which sunblock to use, that depends on a lot of personal preferences. We use a combination of Neutrogena coolmist spray SPF 70+, Neurogena pure and free SPF 60+, and ELTA MD sport SPF 50+ (no affiliations, sponsors, yada, yada, yada). I'm still shocked she hasn't made me buy a hardtop and permanently epoxy it on. Feel free to PM me with any specifics and I'll run it by the better half.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Lotus programming.

Cheers,

 

[SweetDaddyD]

That sucks. Look on the bright side, she got an easily treatable basil cell carcinoma, which is scary because it's the C word but not the deadly form (which ironically lack of Vitamen D actually increases your risk of, also malignant melonoma is actually more common in indoor workers and the most common removed spot is back of the calf, not bridge of the nose like basil cell)

So be glad she wasn't a sun phobe all these years and got Breast or Ovarian cancer instead. Both greatly increased by lack of Vitamin D and abuse of sunscreen. (yes NO sun is as much or more of an extreme than too much and opens you up to all your internal cancers with much higher mortality rates....moderation.)

Check out "The UV Advantage" by Dr. Michael Hollick before you have her get too nutty with total sun avoidance.

 

[Green Rat]

(yes NO sun is as much or more of an extreme than too much and opens you up to all your internal cancers with much higher mortality rates....moderation.)

Totally agree with moderation. Also, measured serum vitamin D levels are all in vogue these days along with Vit. D supplementation, for all the reasons you stated.

 

[MickOpalak]

I recently lost a very good friend to cancer that started out as simple skin cancer and spread.

 

[Monsi]

I'll stick to my "hard top"

 

[kertong]

My lotus smells like burning oil, and I'm afraid it's going to give me lung cancer one day. My eyes even burn if I drive with the windows down

Sorry to hear about your wife's diagnosis, but I'm glad to hear it is minor and easily treatable.

 

[doug_porsche]

Yes. Use SPF 50 daily, as a lotion in the morning and reapply if your are in the sun. It is the lesser of the two choices. Banana Boat makes a good, non grease one.

 

[SweetDaddyD]

Yes. Use SPF 50 daily, as a lotion in the morning and reapply if your are in the sun. It is the lesser of the two choices. Banana Boat makes a good, non grease one.

Greatly increased your risk of prostrate cancer, which is far nastier and much higher mortality. If you look up total cancer mortalitys by region (all deaths from all cancers) your lowest mortality rates are in your most sunny regions. Breast, Prostate, and Ovarian- the 3 big killer cancers all get a boost from lack of Vitamen D. Supplementation is near worthless and can easily become toxic. Your body will not over produce Vitamin D and 15 minutes in the sun without SPF (a SPF 15 blocks your bodies ability to make Vitamen D 95%) will produce more than a whole handful of pills (which your body really doesn't absorb anyway since it's not the active form made in your liver)

SPF 50 daily is just a much an extreme, if not moreso, than laying out with baby oil and getting fried.

Pharmaceuticals make no money letting you know the truth. Of course they push supplementation and SPF- they can sell you that. They can't sell you sun.

 

[...m...]

Greatly increased your risk of prostrate cancer, which is far nastier and much higher mortality. If you look up total cancer mortalitys by region (all deaths from all cancers) your lowest mortality rates are in your most sunny regions. Breast, Prostate, and Ovarian- the 3 big killer cancers all get a boost from lack of Vitamen D. Supplementation is near worthless and can easily become toxic. Your body will not over produce Vitamin D and 15 minutes in the sun without SPF (a SPF 15 blocks your bodies ability to make Vitamen D 95%) will produce more than a whole handful of pills (which your body really doesn't absorb anyway since it's not the active form made in your liver)

...see, open-topped roadsters are good for you...

 

[Brennon]

Greatly increased your risk of prostrate cancer, which is far nastier and much higher mortality. If you look up total cancer mortalitys by region (all deaths from all cancers) your lowest mortality rates are in your most sunny regions. Breast, Prostate, and Ovarian- the 3 big killer cancers all get a boost from lack of Vitamen D. Supplementation is near worthless and can easily become toxic. Your body will not over produce Vitamin D and 15 minutes in the sun without SPF (a SPF 15 blocks your bodies ability to make Vitamen D 95%) will produce more than a whole handful of pills (which your body really doesn't absorb anyway since it's not the active form made in your liver)

SPF 50 daily is just a much an extreme, if not moreso, than laying out with baby oil and getting fried.

Pharmaceuticals make no money letting you know the truth. Of course they push supplementation and SPF- they can sell you that. They can't sell you sun.

It does seem dermatologists and oncologists are at odds these days. I lean towards the camp that if you're out in the sun for <1 hour, it's probably more beneficial to go without the sun screen. Time will tell.

 

[doug_porsche]

I think to play it safe, I will go home and eat fried foods and drink way too much. I will still be dead, but I will know why!

 

[def]

I've been meaning to throw some sunscreen in my car since I bought it 3 years ago... I think this thread will finally convince me to get on it



Regarding Vitamin D and cancer, while some think theres a connection, some don't think so. I googled around a bit because my Vit D was low so I was given pills too help boost it a few months back. Hopefully all is OK now!!

But yeah, out in the sun for an hour or less? No biggie. Out for a few hours? Sunscreen!! That way it's win-win? :shrug:

 

[Aedo]

I live in the skin cancer capital of the world - Australia

I am also of Irish descent and therefore have NO natural sunscreen (would burn under a full moon ). I have have checkups every six months for the last 15yrs and regularly get BCCs removed along with a bunch of solar keratosis - I also put sunscreen on every day and wear a hat (no hair either ). I don't drive topless during the day in summer and sold my roofless seven .

I LOVE my Elise and enjoy top down motoring every morning and evening and plan to keep doing so until I can no longer buy petrol for it!!!

 

[LotoMoto]

Two years ago I was diagnosed with skin cancer, and it was melanoma. Melanoma cancer accounts for 75% of all skin cancer deaths. Today, I am missing the top of my right ear, but I am here and cancer free. I highly recommend SPF 85 or SPF 100 for those fair skinned folks who cruise with the top down on sunny days. And Walmart now carries SPF 100 for less than ten bucks. Don’t forget to put it on your ears!!!!! I was a kayak instructor for six years, and was on the water every weekend with a ball cap & sun-block applied to my face, but I neglected my ears. I learned the hard way.

Even with what I went through, I still like cruising with the top off & the SPF on.

 

[Bavarian Motorist]

Hope she recovers.

 

[Jim-C]

I recently lost a very good friend to cancer that started out as simple skin cancer and spread.

+1

Please be careful out there. Not a pleasant experience.