How do the UV protection recommendations work in the sun-a-wear app? And how do you interpret them in such a way that they support you optimally in everyday life? Here comes our introduction to the app's symbology.
The sun-a-wear sensor measures the UV radiation you are currently exposed to. The app also knows how the UV radiation should be at your location on the current day. From this we can derive UV protection recommendations.
If you click on the weather icon on the dashboard, you can see which sun protection is recommended at the moment and which protection should be applied later that day. The visible symbols mean from left to right:
- Wear a hat: Wearing a hat is recommended to protect your eyes and head (eye damage, scalp burns, heat stroke).
- Apply sunscreen: Apply sunscreen to exposed areas of skin. Don't forget to tell the sun-a-wear app which Sun Protection Factor you used. This is the only way she can calculate the dose correctly and advise you effectively.
- Cover upper body: Wear a t-shirt or cover your shoulders.
- Wear sunglasses: Protect your eyes with sunglasses.
- Seek shade: This icon indicates that you should avoid direct sunlight and stay in the shade whenever possible.
UV forecast and UV protection recommendations
Clicking on the weather icon will take you to the UV forecast for the current day. Below this are the UV protection recommendations for the respective periods. The icons show you when each protection is recommended. So you can plan ahead for longer trips. Note that these are general recommendations only. Depending on the skin type, the UV protection recommendations may not be sufficient. Therefore, please always pay attention to the current calculation of the app.
On the right side you can see how long it would take according to the UV forecast at the respective time until your dose limit would be reached.
What are these UV protection recommendations based on?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has sun protection recommendations depending on the predicted UV index for the day. Unfortunately, these are somewhat unspecific, as they are given for large UV ranges and only take into account the maximum UV index forecast for the day. The WHO recommends a hat, sunscreen and a T-shirt for a predicted UV index of 3 to 7. The forecast UV index refers to the maximum value at noon. But what does that mean if you want to go out in the sun at 3 p.m.?
In order to be able to offer more specific assistance in the sun-a-wear app, we calculate the UV index at any time of the day and apply the WHO recommendations to it. This allows us to provide UV protection recommendations that do not apply to the whole day, but vary depending on the time of day and cloudiness. In case of doubt, however, it is certainly not wrong if you follow the official recommendations of the WHO.
For general sun protection recommendations, check out our sun protection article.
