Midyear Check-In: Protect Your Glow, Protect Your Goals

We are officially halfway through the summer and halfway through 2025. How are you all doing out there? Remember those resolutions we talked about in January? I logged 8 entries in my journal this year if that tells you how mine have gone! We will likely be enjoying several days of heat, accompanied by that famous Missouri humidity, all ushered in by the big, beautiful sun. Speaking of sun, did you know July is National UV Awareness Month (see how I navigated that segue?)

Speaking as someone who has never been a friend of the sun, well, not that I’m NOT a fan of the sun, I actually love that beast, it’s the UV rays that come with it. Let’s just say that I am melanin-impoverished, so to be fair, I have always adhered to strict sunblock application. Having said that, I did some research for this month’s Notes because truly, who doesn’t like the look of a pretty tan?

I was surprised to learn that tanned skin is a sign of skin damage. The darkening of the skin is the body’s way of trying to protect itself from further UV damage. You guys, wearing sunscreen/sunblock with a high SPF is so important! Wearing UV-protection garments and opting to sit in the shade rather than the sun are also great preventative measures to avoid the possibility of skin cancer in the future.

If you are someone who just really feels the need to have a tan, you absolutely can still get a tan while wearing sunblock. Just know that it is a sign that not all the dangerous UV rays were blocked. I know, I know, I’m being a beautiful tan buzzkill, but that facts are the facts, my friends.

So just remember, while you are out celebrating this beautiful country we live in, or watching America’s sport, or enjoying the heat in some form of water sport or activity, think about protecting the largest organ in your body (of course it’s your skin) and most especially, protect those little ones running around playing beside you from a possible future melanoma.

If you do have some concerns or just want to have a skin check as a baseline, please contact one of our amazing providers at the clinic of your choice: the HCCH Medical Clinic at Bethany (660-425-3154), Eagleville (660-867-5111), or coming soon… at Pattonsburg! And in the meantime, get back to that dang list of resolutions, the beauty of life, and the privilege of living in this country, is that we get to restart and reinvent ourselves every day… so go out there and be the best version of you! See you in the shade!