One question that I have been asked several times is “what does the Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) rating mean?” It is an important question since our long-term health could be affected by how well we protect ourselves from sun damage.
Until recently, sun protective fabrics have been rated with either a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) and/or UPF rating based on the type of testing done. Now the rating for all sun protective fabrics is moving to UPF. However, SPF will remain the standard rating for items such as sunscreens. Tests to determine SPF and UPF ratings are done differently. I don't believe you can make a direct comparison between the two.
The UPF rating indicates how much of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation is absorbed by the fabric (and not your skin). The higher the UPF rating, the more you are protected. For example, a UPF 20 rating means that only 1/20th of the UV radiation will go through the fabric. So, you will reduce your skin's UV radiation exposure by 20 times. This is only true in the locations of your body where the fabric is covering you.
A rating of UPF 50 is the highest rating. UPF 50+ means that the fabric protects better than the rating of UPF 50. There are three categories for sun protective clothing:
- Good UV Protection - UPF 15 to 24
- Very Good UV Protection - UPF 25 to 39
- Excellent UV Protection - UPF 40 to 50
For more information on the UPF rating for sun protective clothing, read the Federal Trade Commission (http://www.ftc.gov/) article "Sun-Protective Clothing: Wear It Well." I not only want you to enjoy your time outdoors, but I want you to enjoy your time after being outdoors.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
What Does UPF Mean?
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I can't figure out how to post pictures but here is my story and the pics that are refered to can be seen under testimonials at www.blacksalveinfo.com WARNING:the pics are graphic!!!
The following paragraphs and pictures are a personal account of a six and a half year struggle with a pathogen (skin cancer)on the surface of my back. The pictures are graphic but I felt it was necessary for people who may have a similar problem to see them, in order to be encouraged that the growth/pathogen, has been destroyed and eliminated from my body once and for all and with a very simple remedy. About six and a half years ago I was planning a trip to Florida and decided, instead of getting burned down there, I would try a tanning bed to prepare my skin for the powerful rays closer to the equator. If any one tells you that these sun beds are safe they are misleading you! I was in for 10 minutes, that's all it took to cause the damage.
I will say this, I did have a pre-existing condition called tinea-versicolor. The Dermatologic Disease Database defines it as "Tinea versicolor is caused by a yeast type of skin fungus, which is present on normal skin. If the skin is oily enough, warm enough and moist enough, it starts to grow into small "colonies" on the surface of the skin." Earlier work by the late Dr. Royal Rife showed that cancer is a virus that, when in the right medium/conditions, can mutate into a bacteria or fungus and back to a virus, and that a bacteria and fungus can also mutate into the others and back.
So, my belief is that the radiation from the rays of the tanning bed hit the tinea versicolor (fungus) and mutated it into a new pathogen that started destroying my skin and growing into a mass, not just on the surface, but well below also. On 4/26/05 I put an herbal preparation of Black Salve on, what was at the time a mass about the size of a half dollar. Over the years it looked like cauliflower on the surface of the skin which would bleed quite a bit so I wore band-aids over it for years. Effective Black Salve is next to impossible to find in the US but you can find it if you look hard enough.
I felt tingling and then a burning sensation almost immediately after the application. Some people have felt the need to take aspirin or pain killers to help maintain the pain, I believe it will depend upon each individual case, but better to be prepared by having some on hand if the pain gets to be too much. That night the area around the spot swelled all around and out from it until the perimeter of swelling was about the size of a mans fist. The next morning I woke up and took a shower and the excess Black Salve washed off and left behind an indentation of the skin by about 3 millimeters which was covered by a black scab or eschar.
I applied another coating of Black Salve the second night just to make sure, and the pain got even worse than the night before, which led me to believe that the first application may not have been enough. I never did put on a third application as was suggested to me by a friend who has dealt with many cases. Here you can see what the eschar looks like as it begins to pull away from the healthy skin. That is a quarter next to it in the picture A couple of days before the first application I began taking whole food supplements which helped my immune system greatly! Spanish Black Radish 2 tablets per meal, increasing to 7 tablets per meal after the first application of Black Salve and for the entire month following.
The Spanish Black Radish helped dramatically reduce the weeping of pus and debris from the wound, it is an awesome product when taken correctly! Many people have had to change their bandages 4 or more times a day because there is so much leakage of pus, but with the Spanish Black Radish, all the pus was eliminated internally through the lymphatic system and I actually left the same bandage on all day, only changing it the following mornings after getting out of the shower. Here you can see what the wound looked like after the eschar fell out on day six from the first application. The crater it left behind was pretty deep, but the second the eschar fell out the pain was completely gone! In the next two pictures below you see what the growth looked like from its underside. Pretty nasty!
The pic next to it shows how deep it was. That is a quarter laying flat next to it, so as you can see, in certain parts of the growth it was the thickness of 5-6 quarters if they were stacked on top of each other! Now comes the easy part, healing! I used/use two specific formulas to assist my healing over the area with new tissue. The special "Total Body Wash" and also organic coconut oil. Some areas take as long as a year to completely heal. I do not think mine will take that long because of the aid of these 2 products but I will take them until I am satisfied with the look of the new skin. Below are the last two pictures, one at 2 weeks after the eschar fell out and the second at two months after the eschar fell out. As you can see, the wound is completely healed over and some scar tissue remains, which I will continue to take the special body wash and also organic coconut oil from for until I feel it is totally finished healing.
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