The pros (inc Mick) have joined with The Skin Cancer Foundation to help spread the prevention message around the globe.
The World Champ knows the damage that can be done by sun: "I'm pretty fair so I need as much protection from the sun as possible ... peeling skin, blistered lips, it's not fun, I hate it."
Mick's advice is simple: "Take an extra five minutes to get ready, apply sunscreen and make sure you look after yourself."
If you do wish to roast yourself there's a good chance you'll end up haggard, with bits of your face cut out and stitched back up like an old moccasin.
Got to cut through some of the bollocks here chaps. Time for an inconvenient truth for all the Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
Avoiding peak UV radiation times the best and ONLY known and proven way to avoid skin cancer. Not so hard for surfers if you're getting up early for the best sessions of the day, offshore morning breezes and all that.
As for using sunscreens to try to get away with it in peak UV times, that's a big gamble and has no guarantees. There is still an unsettled argument in scientific research as to whether sunscreens actually prevent skin cancer or make it worse.
When exposed to UV, the chemicals used to make sunscreen will break down into cancer causing radicals. So potentially these can actually cause cancer.
Going out during peak UV times WITHOUT sunscreen is known to cause cancer. It's still an unanswered question as to whether your odds improve if you're using sunscreen. Don't be fooled by the availability of a quick-fix on-shelf product. It will be sold unless there's a legal reason to ban it.
If you insist on going the product route, know your product, know its chemicals, know its clinical proof. Very few brands can boast undisputed safety.
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