Skin Cancer
 

Simply a timely reminder to wear a sunscreen on arms and face when ever on the flight deck. After 40 yrs of flying, I have to have a lot of surgery to remove skin cancers on my arms and face, all of it from flying mainly. Those flying in the Southern Hemisphere please take note, you are more in the danger zone then your fellow Pilots in the North, but in reality everybody is at risk. Happy flying all.

Roger that caqtas. And not just on the flight deck either. If you live/work in sunny climes, remember SLIP, SLAP, SLOP - "slip" on a shirt, "slop" on sunscreen and "slap" on a hat. Girls, don't forget your legs.

Sun damage is cumulative over a lifetime - many of the chaps I see (I run the surgical side of our local Skin Cancer Unit) did their real damage many years ago and only now are the effects visible.

The incidence of skin cancers in the Frozen North is significant. The combination of high ambient UV from sun and snow glare, along with wind dessication, produces a large number of pre-malignant changes.

Cover up and use lip protection creams with a UV blocker (indoors or your lip will stick to the applicator :) ).

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One more timely hint:-

When you do find something that's "not quite right" on your skin, get it looked at quick! The backs of my hands are going under the nitrogen-gun tomorrow morning for removal of some solar keratoses. I'm lucky, my hands are the only places I have these problems - so far.

My father (WW2 navigator in Wellingtons and Liberators) has multiple keratoses burnt off his nose every 6 months or so. Hundreds of hours under perspex in the western desert have taken their toll.

Long trousers, long sleeves, hats, sunglasses and drive/fly wearing golf gloves if at all possible. Maximise your protection now and help put the skin specialists out of business!

Not just the glare of sun and snow in the arctic, but lot of us whitefaces insist on travelling to Spain and around Med to lay on the beach to perform the " Human barbeque " act.

JJ