What's your Fitzpatrick Scale?
Fitzpatrick Scale is numerical classification for human skin color. It was developed in 1975 by a Harvard Medical School dermatologist Thomas B. Fitzpatrick as a way to estimate the response of different types of skin to ultraviolet (UV) light. It is today used by many health professions to determine how a patient will respond to facial treatments. Practitioners also use the scale to determine how likely a person is to get skin cancer. The Fitzpatrick scale remains a recognized tool for dermatological research into human skin pigmentation.
Where Do You Fit on the Fitzpatrick Scale?
The Fitzpatrick scale includes six different skin types and colors in respect to their toleration to the sun.
- Type I Features - pale white skin | red or blond hair | blue eyes | freckles. Characteristics - always burns, never tans - Anglo Saxon Countries U.S, U.K, Canada, Australia & New Zealand
- Type II Features - white or fair skin | red or blond hair | blue, hazel or green eyes Characteristics - usually burns, tans minimally Northern Europe, Northern England & Ireland
- Type III Features - cream white or fair skin | any eye or hair color Characteristics - sometimes mild burn, tans uniformly Northern Europe, Germany & Scandinavia
- Type IV Features - light brown | olive | dark brown to black hair Characteristics - rarely burns, tans with ease - Southern Europe
- Type V Features - dark brown Characteristics - very rarely burns, tans very easily - South Mediterranean
- Type VI Features - deeply pigmented dark brown to darkest brown, black in complexion Characteristics - never burns, always tans - Africa
Use the Scale Responsibly
The scale provides a reference point that people can use to get a better idea as to how much sun exposure they can handle. It is meant to provide general, rather than individualized, guidance and shouldn't be used as a substitute for visiting your dermatologist or primary health provider.
In the end, there are no hard or fast rules when it comes to the "right" amount of sun exposure a person should have. While the scale suggests, for instance, that darker skin never burns, we know that it occasionally does. The simple truth is that even the darkest skin tones are susceptible to sun damage and skin cancers do occur in people of color.
While fair-skinned people are certainly more likely to develop malignancies, people of all colors are advised to use sunscreen, ideally on a daily basis. It is simply wrong to suggest that persons with darker skin, whether African-American, Latino, Middle Eastern, or Asians, don't need it.
In fact, people of color are at risk of a certain type of cancer called acral lentiginous melanoma, which is not directly caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure. (It was the type that killed reggae star Bob Marley back in 1981.)
Acral melanoma is genetically different from other forms of skin cancer and appears primarily on hairless parts of the body such as the palms, soles of the feet, and under fingernails and toenails. While excessive UV exposure may not trigger the malignancy (given that these parts of the body are less exposed to sunlight), it can exacerbate it.
No matter what your race or ethnicity, it's important to pay attention to any changes you see in your skin. If you find any worrisome mole, blemish, spot, sore, or other skin concerning change, don't hesitate to contact your doctor immediately.
While sunlight definitely has its share of positive health benefits (such as allowing the body to produce Vitamin D), excessive exposure can often do more harm than good.
Keep covered or in the shade as much as possible, and use sunblock as part of your daily skin care routine.