8 Ways to Prevent Skin Cancer

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, but in many cases you can prevent it. Practice these strategies to stop skin cancer before it starts.

By Krisha McCoy, MS Medically reviewed by Christine Wilmsen Craig, MD

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Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, with more than one million cases diagnosed each year. "Skin cancer risk is partially predetermined through genetics and partially elevated by excess sun exposure and sun damage in early childhood through adulthood," says Nancy Silverberg, MD, director of pediatric and adolescent dermatology at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York, N.Y.

Although you can’t control your genes, you can control the amount of UV light your skin is exposed to. "The No. 1 instigator of skin cancer in the United States is UV light, or exposure to the sun," says Gregory Papadeas, DO, a board-certified dermatologist in the greater Denver area and past president of the Colorado Dermatological Society. In addition to sun exposure, be aware that you can be exposed to harmful UV light in tanning beds, too.

There are a number of ways you can protect yourself from developing skin cancer:

Start sun protection early.

If you have children, teach them about the importance of avoiding too much sun exposure and other forms of UV light at a young age. Dr. Papadeas says that we get the majority of our lifetime sun exposure before the age of 18.

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