by Kirsten Campbell

Created on: May 23, 2009   Last Updated: May 24, 2009

Yes, definitely yes sunscreen works and I know from experience how very much it works. This is a true story of something that recently happened in my life. I'm a very healthy looking female that used to tan when I was much younger. I stopped tanning when I turned twenty two and I feel I saved my skin a lot of damage that way. I also felt that using sunscreen would save my skin from sun damage and always made sure I had some on before I went anywhere, even to work.

I'm a very pale, woman that tans very easily and for the last few years I've been using sunscreen every time I go out in the summer. Well, I went to the doctor, had my blood taken and you know what? I have a vitamin D deficiency, due to, not lack of getting sun but using sunscreen. The doctor told me that he's seeing more and more of this deficiency because people forget that the sun provides the vitamin D through exposure to our skin. Sun screen actually protects the skin from the rays that provide the vitamin D. One of the first things the doctor told me to do was to go out in the sun for fifteen minutes a day-without sunscreen. I couldn't believe that it could make that much of a difference, but the doctor told me not to use the stuff unless I knew I was going to be out in the sun for more than thirty minutes and even then, don't use it too often. Vitamin D deficiency isn't easy enough to fix, but it's not the norm for people who are out and about everyday. It's going to take a few months of going out for fifteen minutes a day, taking blood every two to three weeks to see if vitamin D levels are going up. Just because I used sunscreen all the time.

I walk to work, walk to the train station which is a half mile away and stand there and wait for the train, in the sun, so I use to slather that sunscreen on to prevent burns on my face. I was pleased that my face tanned, turned a golden brown in a few weeks with out burning. Still, to get the news that I have a vitamin deficiency and I look healthy as a horse was a shock. Don't believe the hype that it's just cream. Sunscreen really does what it's supposed to-screen your skin from the elements of the sun. Just be careful and get some true sunlight in your life. Your health is more important that a golden brown tan and smooth satin skin. Not to mention that the price of sunscreen is unbelievable. I recommend using it at the beach or the pool. Other than that, leave it at home until necessary.

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