5 Tips for Sun Protection

Summertime often means lots of outdoor time. To help kidney patients protect themselves from the sun's damaging UV rays, here are the top 5 Tips from the NKF.

• If you have a transplant and are taking immunosuppressive medications, be aware that your skin may be more sensitive to the sun now. You may burn faster so be sure to use sunscreen with a very high sun protection factor (SPF).
• Those who take tetracyclines and sulfa (including furosemide and other diuretics) are sensitized to the sun and will sunburn with briefer exposures.
• Cover up when in the sun. Consider wearing a hat and long-sleeved shirt.
• Go outside before 10 am or after 2 pm. Those four hours are the hottest of the day, when the sun's rays are strongest.
• If you're on peritoneal dialysis, protect your catheter at all times.