As we are now in the summer months, it is important to know what we can do to protect ourselves from the sun’s UV rays.
There are many ways the sun can affect your body with lupus. “Around 1 in 3 people with lupus will experience symptoms due to exposure to the sun. Although many lupus patients will experience rashes brought on by the sun, it can affect people through symptoms such as itching, burning, fatigue, joint pain and weakness and sometimes flu-like symptoms.
As a child, my mum and dad would take my sister and I away in our caravan for weeks at a time to County Mayo and after my little brother was born, we started going to County Kerry, where we would take surf lessons and spend most of our time on Inch beach. I have never experienced the intense heat and sun exposure that you would get abroad—the temperature and sun at home never caused me any real issues. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with systemic and cutaneous lupus that I began experiencing issues. I’m going abroad later this year for the first time, which is a very exciting experience, but also it makes me feel a little anxious as I worry about how my body and lupus will react to the heat. When I am out in the heat even for a short period of time, I notice my skin becoming increasingly irritated and itchy. I feel almost exhausted by just sitting outside for periods of time and feel as if I have suddenly come down with a cold.
There are some things that I like to do or use that help me when I start experiencing my symptoms and issues. When my skin becomes itchy, I use antihistamines from the doctor or pharmacy, which relieves the irritation and itchiness. I also use a factor 50+ sun cream to ensure my skin is fully protected.
There are several ways we can protect our skin from the sun’s UV rays. Sun cream is the number one thing that can be used to help and protect your skin. Sun cream is something that is advised to be used every day, even if it is not particularly sunny or warm and should be reapplied every 2 hours throughout the day.
Although it is advisable to not go out if the UV index is high, there are ways around it such as UV protective clothing that shields your skin from the sun. You can also get UV-safe hats, socks, tops, swimwear, and umbrellas for extra protection from the sun.
Sunglasses are a great way to protect your eyes from UV rays, as well as the skin around your eyes. When it comes to sunglasses, the higher the rating the better. The UV rating lets you know how much protection from UV the sunglasses will offer you. Ideally you should be looking for sunglasses with a UV 400 label, which means they provide nearly 100% UV protection. Sunglasses may have either a EU CE label on them which means that they are 90-100% protection or be categorised[2] between 0-4, 0 being little protection and 4 being maximum protection.
You could speak to your doctor to see if antihistamines or another medication would be suitable for you to help relieve any itching or irritation that can be caused by the heat and sun. Staying in the shade throughout the day, especially when the sun is strongest, will help to lessen the effect the sun has on you and your skin. The sun’s rays are usually at their strongest between 10am - 4pm, so it’s a good idea to stay in a shaded area between those times.
This is what I do to keep protected from the sun and I hope this is helpful coming into the summer months, giving an insight into how I look after my skin while still enjoying the summer sun.
Thanks for reading and I hope everyone has a wonderful summer!
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