Updated October 14th, 2020

Will COVID-19 Actually Lead To More Skin Cancers? Experts Suspect That More Time Inside Increases Risk

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Skin Cancers & COVID-19

A new hypothesis claims that staying indoors during COVID-19 may lead to more skin cancer diagnoses
The theory suggests that staying indoors reduces our sun exposure, and possibly increases the likelihood of sunburns if outdoors for an extended amount of time
It’s still unclear whether this claim has been scientifically proven, but it’s important to note that wearing sunscreen while outside is the best way to prevent skin cancer

Stay at home orders brought by the COVID-19 months have caused many people to spend a disproportionate amount of time indoors. However, as restrictions start to ease, and summer temperatures increase, some experts suspect that more skin cancer diagnoses will occur as a result of the outbreak.

"When someone is sheltering at home, their skin is no longer used to the sun," Dr. Mark Reeves, director of the Loma Linda University Cancer Center, told Loma Linda University Health. "Once they go outside for the first time, fall asleep at a park, fall asleep in their backyard, or are just outside too long, they end up getting a bad sunburn due to intense sun exposure. I have seen this time and time again, and this type of relationship with the sun can lead to melanoma."

In winter months during a normal year, the skin’s exposure to the sun significantly decreases, and it’s the same circumstance while staying indoors during COVID-19. Therefore, if we spend an extensive amount of time outdoors without proper protection such as sunscreen, there’s an increased risk of getting a sunburn. Numerous sunburns and sun exposure can lead to skin cancer diagnoses such as melanoma, especially if bad sunburns happen more than once.

“Most of the time, 90% of all melanomas are sun exposed,” says Dr. Anna Pavlick, a medical oncologist at NYU Perlmutter Cancer Center. “So patients who have had scalding sunburns as children, patients who have had excessive sun exposure, patients who go to tanning salons because they thought that having a tan was the healthy thing to do.”

Dr. Anna Pavlick explains how sun exposure is linked to melanoma

What Is Melanoma?

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, affecting 100,350 adults annually. A majority of times, the cancer is caused by dangerous, extensive amounts of sun damage to the skin, and can develop from an existing mole or appear as a pink growth on the skin even appearing in places that were never directly exposed to the sun.

Melanoma diagnoses can happen not only from laying out in the sun, but also spending time in tanning beds since you are exposing yourself to the very same ultraviolet rays. Additionally, tanning beds allow the rays to be much closer to the skin roughly 6 to 8 inches away.

“We know that there is a direct correlation between patients who go to indoor tanning salons,” Dr. Pavlick says in a separate interview. “When you think about it, the UVA, UVB exposure that you get from a tanning salon is about 6 inches from the surface of your body compared to somebody who goes and tans on a beach and the sun is thousands of miles away. So you have to think about the intensity that you’re exposing your skin to when you go to a tanning salon. We know that there is an exponential increase in patients who develop melanomas who have been to tanning salons.

Dr. Anna Pavlick says tanning beds are not a solution to reducing skin damage

How To Protect Your Skin From Cancer

For most of us, it’s impossible to not to be exposed to the sun. So, experts have confirmed wearing sunscreen regularly is the best way to prevent skin damage and helps you decrease your risk of developing skin cancer. However, as we know, there’s way too many sunscreen brands to choose from, but Dr. Snehal Amin, a dermatologist in Manhattan, says it’s important to focus on ingredients rather than brands to determine which sunscreen is the best fit.

“It’s important to remember that sunscreens are just one way of protecting our skin against sun damage,” says Dr. Amin. “Clothing is an important way to protect against sun damage. In fact, a hat and SPF proof clothing should be your number one forms of sun protection.”

Unfortunately skin damage caused over the years cannot be reversed, but you can decrease your risk of more damage from occurring in the future by limiting your time in the sun and using sunscreen. An Australian study found that by wearing sunscreen daily over a 10-year period, the risk of melanoma was reduced by 50 percent.

Dr. Cecilia Larocca says wearing sunscreen can reduce your skin cancer risk by 50%

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