We recently heard
the sad news that one of our close associates has been diagnosed with melanoma
cancer. The good news is that it was
caught very early and a minor surgery is all that is required to take care of
it.
At Maui Island
Secret we have been developing, manufacturing and distributing some of the
world’s finest tanning products for the last 15 years. We believe that you can have a safe time in
the sun and get a good tan as long as you combine your sun exposure with
healing after sun aloes and a healthy dose of common sense.
And, with the
introduction of our Perfect Organics (Perfect-O) sunscreens, we are helping you
with that “dose of common sense!” Our
blends feature a moisturizing base and a physical sunscreen in 4 different
strengths … SPF 5, SPF 15, SPF 30 and SPF 45.
We do not believe in the extremely high SPF’s like 70 and 100 since they
provide negligible extra protection all the while requiring high amount of
chemical sunscreens to test that high in laboratory situations.
We recommend
starting out with higher SPF’s on sun sensitive areas (anywhere the bone is
close to the skin) while using more moderate SPF’s on the rest of your
body. After attaining a base tan, our
coffee based Browning Formula will give you the tan of your life. We always emphasize use of our sunscreens on
the face and other sun sensitive areas.
Back to our
friend with melanoma. He was lucky in
that his dermatologist found the spot during a regular checkup. He does a self-check frequently but the only
way to really be sure is to have a professional look at your skin.
Skin Cancer claims 12,000 lives a
year. Caught early it usually poses
little risk. Let it go too long and you
can, unfortunately, be one of the statistics so please be diligent with your
skin.
Aloha from your Maui Island Secret Team.
Some More Information about the
Three Kinds of Cancer:
The two most common forms are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. They are referred to as nonmelanoma skin cancer. The most dangerous form is melanoma that tends to metastasize throughout the body and can cause death. There are almost 70,000 new cases of melanoma every year.
Basal cell accounts for 90% of new skin cancers and usually begins as a small dome shaped bump. They can appear very dark and are usually irregular shaped. Squamous begins in the squamous cells which are flat, scale-like cells that form the surface of the skin, the hollow organs of the body and the respiratory and digestive tracts. So, squamous can form in any of these tissues. It most frequently appears on the skin as rough, red bumps on the scalp, face, ears and backs of the hands. It can take 10 years for the cancer to invade deeply into the skin and become fully developed squamous cell carcinoma.
The risks for developing any of these cancers include age, UV exposure in tanning beds, therapeutic radiation and most prominently exposure to the sun.
