Melanoma, the most severe kind of skin cancer, is a condition in which cancer starts to develop in the cells responsible for producing melanin. Melanoma can affect the eyes and, in rare cases, the inside parts of the body, such as the throat or the nose. Thankfully, just like other skin cancer types, melanoma can also be prevented.

Here are some prevention tips for melanoma.

• Limit exposure to the sun
  Limiting your skin’s exposure to the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun can prove to be the most useful prevention tip for melanoma. This can be done by avoiding tanning beds, wearing clothes that cover all the exposed parts of the body when you are stepping out, wearing hats, and applying a powerful sunscreen. Dermatologists strongly recommend the use of sunblocks to prevent the damage caused by sun rays on the exposed parts of the body. Also, a healthy tan is a myth. Therefore, intentionally exposing your skin to ultraviolet rays under tanning booths or beds should be avoided.
• Protective clothing is a must
  Wearing clothes that protect the exposed skin from the sun is an effective way of preventing sun damage. While all clothes can protect from the ultraviolet rays, certain fabrics are designed to provide extra protection from the sun, known as UPF clothing. UPF stands for the ultraviolet protection factor used to measure the protection of the clothes against the sun. With the help of UPF, the fraction of ultraviolet rays of the sun that can penetrate through the fabric can be measured. This means the higher the UPF a fabric has, the more protection it can provide from the sun.
• Pick the right sunscreen
  Almost 90 percent of skin cancers, which include melanoma, are directly related to exposure to the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. Thankfully, the risk of developing melanoma from the radiation can be reduced drastically by applying the right sunscreen over and over. To ensure 100 percent protection against the sun, you need to find the following things in a sunscreen:
  • Pick a broad-spectrum sunscreen
    These sunscreens give ample protection to your skin from the UVA rays that can cause aging of the skin and leads to wrinkles. Also, they offer protection against UVB rays that makes the skin burn. Exposure to UVA and UVB rays can become a cause of skin cancer and hence, pick a sunscreen that offers protection against these.
  • Your sunscreen should at least have an SPF 30
    The higher the SPF in your sunscreen, the higher is the protection from the sun. While a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 will offer 93% protection from sun, a sunscreen with SPF 30 can block 97% of UVB rays.