Golfer Uses Bracelet For Sun Exposure Reminder

She works in a world where skirts and shorts are part of the uniform, where sleeves are optional, and where it’s nothing to spend six hours in the sun. But it still bothers Kailin Downs to hear her colleagues talking about their tans.”I’m not passing around the bottle,” the Duramed Futures Tour rookie said Tuesday, “but I say things when people make
comments about not wearing sunscreen, or that they want to tan, or whatever.”

And when she says those things, she’s speaking from experience. After having a handful of benign moles extracted over the course of her life, doctors discovered melanoma in a spot on Downs’s left shoulder blade in December, and removed the most dangerous form of skin cancer in February. She also had an instance of pre-melanoma sliced off a couple of weeks ago.

Such a diagnosis would be jarring even if her workplace was in the middle of an office building, but for a professional golfer it forced a series of difficult-but-necessary adjustments to her everyday routine, and demanded Downs to be diligently aware of more than just how to shape her next shot.

“It was really hard at first,” said the 23-year-old from Bend, Ore. “It’s scary, so it’s hard to block it out when doing what I’m doing, but I try to be in the shade whenever I can and I try to limit my time in the sun whenever I can. If I’m going to come out here and practice, I don’t sit out here for five hours straight in the sun. It’s not good for my body.

“My life’s more important than my professional career and my enjoyment of golf, so I have to find a happy medium.”

Leading up to a tournament, it’s not unusual for a pro to play a practice round before continuing on to the putting green, the driving range and the sand trap in a single day - and since it’s all under an oft-blazing summer sun, Downs must take special precautions.

The first step, as she encourages it be for everyone, is to apply sunscreen. And not just any sunscreen, but a high-end or even prescription-strength variety that contains zinc and titanium dioxide. It’s got an SPF of 60, but she says the ingredients are more important, as is applying it to more areas than just the uncovered skin.

Because her cancerous mole was in a spot unexposed to the sun, she learned a harsh lesson about the sun’s ability to penetrate clothing, and so she lathers her stomach, back and the rest of her body each morning - before applying a second coat in a process that takes a little more than 10 minutes.

She should be reapplying throughout the day as well, but because the lotions can be greasy, and golfers rely so much on grip, Downs doesn’t always do so - admitting it’s probably a mistake - while instead trying to sneak out of the sun as much as possible. Be it on the tee box or between shots, if she can find refuge in the shadows, she’ll take full advantage. And for when she can’t, she carries a sun umbrella.

“Out here it’s hard not to be in the sun when we’re doing what we’re doing, but I try to be in the shade as much as I can,” Downs said. “So many hours in the sun is not good for you. Look at something that’s been sitting in the sun and loses its color.”

She uses a Livestrong-style rubber bracelet to illustrate her point, noting that though it’s now a dull-and-faded pink, it was once a brighter coral, and acknowledging that if her skin should continue to be similarly discolored, she may have to curtail her budding golf career.

But, for now, she’ll continue to lather up, continue to seek sun-resistant clothing, continue with her now-quarterly checks at the dermatologist - and continue urging others to be as careful as she is.

Full article here.