January 14, 2012
How likely is it that truckers will get skin cancer?
Category: Skin Cancer
I want to be a trucker but I heard they get skin cancer easier than other people, is this true?
One Response to “How likely is it that truckers will get skin cancer?”
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January 14th, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Not necessarily.
Skin cancer is related to sun exposure. Truckers often get sunburn on their arms (due to lengthy exposure of forearms to sun whilst driving) which would increase the chances of skin cancer on their arms.
There are three basic kinds of skin cancer – Melanoma (the really bad kind that spreads throughout the body), SCC (squamous cell carcinoma) and BCC (Basal cell carcinoma).
I have treated a trucker for multiple SCCs on his forarms. He never wore sunscreen, and always wore short sleeves or sleeveless. His forearms were always sunburnt and were heavily suntanned.
By all means become a trucker if that is what you want to do – and to avoid skin cancer, wear long sleeves and use sunscreen to avoid getting burnt.
The cancer council even provides “Driving Sleeves” which you can slip on over your arm closest to the window – right arm in Australia, left arm in America – all depends what side of the road you drive on
– which protects your arm from the sun. Can make your own by cutting a sleeve off an old shirt and sewing elastic in one end. then just slip the sleeve on (elastic at top to keep it up).
Gloves would be another thing. Having your hands on the steering wheel all the time means they will be exposed to the sun a lot. light weight material gloves are one option, sunscreen another. Some people use a UV blocking filter on their car windscreen (like window tinting) to help prevent sunburning. There are many different options.