Hats & Health

[HamletJSD]

... I do take it off when I'm seated at a restaurant of upon entering church, but I don't hold the mall in such high regard.

Ditto.

I haven't had the displeasure of skin cancer, but I started wearing hats relatively young (25-ish). My grandfather is missing chunks of his ears due to cancer and my wife can tell if I've been in the sun w/o a brimmed hat as my ears will be Coca-Cola can red.

 

[Errole]

My friend want to look like God Father thats why he always wear hat...
I have also hat but usually don't wear it because i am a insurance agent and have to avoid these kind of stuff.

 

[danofarlington]

When my hats look unhealthy, I brush them.

 

[fmw]

Like most hat wearers, I wear hats mostly for fashion. I'm not sure there are any meaningful health benefits. But ever since the day I was diagnosed with cancer I have never left the house without a hat. My cancer (currently under control) is in the abdomen, not on the skin but you can't be too careful.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Marco, instead of a hat, how about wearing a sunvisor. I have a Scala raffia sunvisor that I can wear anywhere; no problems with hat etiquette issues. Mine clamps to my head like a pair of sunglasses, others go completely around your head and attach via velcro or a strap.

It would be just as easy to take a hat on & off. I would think, if it were considered bad etiquette to wear a regular hat or cap, the above would fall into the same category.

The plus with the hat, as one mentioned already, is that it blocks sun from the top of your head as well, but also, it gives protection to ears and neck as well, other areas where skin cancers often appear.

Myself? I like the look, I like the fashion, keeps my head dry in rain and cold (and in Seattle, as we all know, using an umbrella is considered to a faux pas punishable by death)...the sun protection is just a little added bonus. I don't consider the sun protection that heavily, although I do have several friends & family who have had skin cancers removed.

 

[Lastmohecken]

I was taught to wear a hat, for protection from the sun's rays, from the time I was a small kid. My dad always made sure I had at least a straw cowboy hat from a kid on, as we worked outside a lot. I also usually wore long sleaved shirts. Later I saw the benifits of wearing one in the rain.

I am 54 now with no skin cancer problems yet.

There are other times too. I grew up also working in chicken houses, and dust and dirt accumilate in the rafters, on cables, hoses, etc and if you bumped anything, dust would come raining down, so I usually wore a hat to keep the dust from going down my shirt collar.

And in construction, I have put one on, and told others to, at times, when cutting fiberglass bargrate, as the bargrate will do the same thing and end up getting on your neck and down your back, and believe me, it's no fun finishing out the day, with fiberglass on your skin. I don't have one, but they even make a Cowboy hard hat nowdays. My hardhat is more like a British Safari hat which has a brim all arround.

 

[Old Rogue]

Like most of the posters in this thread I am fair skinned. Never had skin cancer, but usually have to have several areas of sun damaged skin frozen off each year, mostly on the backs of my hands and forearms. I began balding at a relatively young age, so I've worn caps most of my life to protect my head from the sun. Just starting to wear a fedora, much nicer than a cap and more protection from the sun to boot.

 

[Esme]

I don't mean to be a thread necromancer, but I was looking for something else and found this thread.
I am absolutely amazed at how much warmer I stay in the winter wearing a hat! I was telling my husband that now I believed the stories about how much heat you lose out of the top of your head. He told me that he heard that was an urban myth! I don't know which to believe, but I shall continue to wear my hat as it keeps me warm.

 

[xclgreen]

I feel great reading all the comments on this thread. Actually, only on this thread I was able to know this factual information about why hats is important in someway. My knowledge on that is really such a narrow one - I only thought of why people wearing hats is because of the sun ray and from rains, too. I really happy for what I know on this thread. Thank you so much.

 

[Andykev]

A fine Panama or felt fedora...

Yep. Keeps the skin cancer away. Actually, I feel better with the straw hat on on a sunny day. Can't bear to go out w/o one@

Felt fedora? Warm on cold days, dry on wet ones. Looks great, stylish and..God forbid..you can't wear a baseball cap in a suit.

 

[VetPsychWars]

I do, sort of. I get daffy if I'm in the sun without a hat as my hair is thin and fine. I like how it keeps me warmer in the winter, as well. So... if I'm going to wear a hat, might as well make it an attractive one!

Tom

 

[scottyrocks]

I don't mean to be a thread necromancer, but I was looking for something else and found this thread.
I am absolutely amazed at how much warmer I stay in the winter wearing a hat! I was telling my husband that now I believed the stories about how much heat you lose out of the top of your head. He told me that he heard that was an urban myth! I don't know which to believe, but I shall continue to wear my hat as it keeps me warm.

The number is something like 35%. Heat rises.

 

[gtdean48]

I suffer less from sinusitis with regular hat wear in winter.