5HT #105: sunburns + why motherhood feels like middle school​ + 3 more healthyish things

So I golfed 🏌️my first formal course ever in Hawaii, and it was so fun. 

We played the South Course at Mauna Lani, where we were staying, and I went with my friend Dan, aka the guy who got me into this whole thing.

I started off really (surprisingly?) strong 🏌️. A few epic drives. A couple solid 8-iron shots. I even got close to par on a few early holes. Then I started really struggling with my stamina annnnd kind of fell apart. I basically started overthinking everything 😣. And it wasn’t my proudest finish. But luckily, Dan was very patient and we still had a blast.

The highlight, though, was hole 15, when I hit a drive over the ocean and onto the green, which was super fun and thrilling. My first attempt came close, but landed in the water. But the second one was successful… and I even got it on video. 😃

The whole course was beautiful, and I’m really glad we did it. The experience taught me I’ve got a looot more work to do to keep improving, which feels pretty motivating. I’m also a terrible putter. 😅 (Oh—and I learned what a Transfusion is, which is basically a drink golfers like to drink while golfing. So welcome to that club, I guess?)

Anyway, I’m actually looking forward to golfing again soon. Maybe not twice a week, but soon. So far, my wife is also tolerating this new thing and and I’m hoping she’ll join me. (Hint, hint, Sara 😉.)

Look, I'm no fool. I know how important sunscreen is and how critical it is to avoid sunburns. Buuuut I was outside for basically seven days straight in Hawaii, near the equator, and by day three, I had burned my nose. And that was very frustrating. ☹️

How bad is it, and how embarrassed should I be? Naturally, I did the research. 

Basically, the nose is a sundial, okay? (Even my new nose is a sundial.)

It protrudes from your face and catches UV from every angle: overhead, off the water, off the sand, while the rest of your face gets at least partial shade. It pokes out past your hat brim and below your sunglasses. All this helps explain why the nose is one of the most common spots for basal cell carcinoma, the most common type of skin cancer.

Ultimately, the nose is extra exposed and we under-defend it. 

For one thing, most of us don’t use nearly enough sunscreen. Studies show people tend to apply only a quarter to one-half of the amount of sunscreen needed to achieve the SPF on the bottle… meaning your SPF 50 is probably performing more like SPF 15.

Even worse, a UV imaging study found we systematically miss high-risk areas like the sides of the nose and the inner corners of the eyes, even when we think we nailed it. So your nose basically gets the thinnest, patchiest coat on your face. Noot great.

But how bad is it, really? 

One burn is a data point, not a verdict. The real issue is cumulative exposure. A meta-analysis of 51 studies found melanoma risk increases with the number of lifetime sunburns. So one pink nose at 38 probably doesn’t move the needle much. A pink nose every vacation for 30 years absolutely does. Phew.

The burn I feel worst about, though, wasn’t mine 😔. 

My oldest daughter Isla got burned on the top of her head, right along her part line, which is another spot almost nobody thinks to protect, but the sun instantly finds.

Kids’ sunburns are the ones you really don’t want to mess with, so we made her wear a hat 🧢 for the rest of the trip. No negotiation. Including in the pool. She felt very betrayed by this policy, but hopefully she’ll thank us in 40 years.

Long story short:

☀️ Use way more product than feels reasonable
☀️ Reapply on a 2-hour timer
☀️ For the nose and other high-risk spots, get physical

And if you really want to commit, a white zinc stick. It's unfashionable, but undefeatable.

In the end, I went to Hawaii, and all I came back with was a new sunburn. So consider this your chance to learn from my mistakes.

Loveddd this TEDx talk by social impact lawyer and friend Chelsey Saffidi. In her talk, Chelsey unpacks “matrescence,” the mostly unknown developmental stage that transforms women as profoundly as adolescence transforms teens. Worth a watch!

Remember when I told you I was getting heart surgery? Well, a few months and one extended Holter monitor later, the verdict is in: my PVC burden dropped from 27% to under 1%. How wild is that? 🤯

A quick refresher for new readers: Last August, I went in for what I thought was a victory-lap checkup and got hustled to the ER with an arrhythmia my doctor heard through her stethoscope. The diagnosis was PVCs, or premature ventricular contractions, which is basically your heart firing off schedule.

I tried every lifestyle hack in the book: no booze, no caffeine, more meditation, less protein, and nothing budged. A full workup showed my heart was structurally great ❤️, but my PVC burden was 27%, which is way too much. Cardiologists start paying attention around 10%. Most people are under 1%.

So, in January, I got a heart ablation at the clinic that does the most PVC ablations in the country (luckily this happens to be in my backyard in Austin.) They threaded a catheter up through my groin (gross) and zapped this misfiring spot a few times.

Four months later, after several days on an extended Holter monitor, the numbers were essentially clean. My average heart rate was 68 beats per minute. The predominant rhythm was sinus rhythm, which is the rhythm you want. Over the entire monitoring window, I had 15 isolated PVCs, 1 couplet, and 0 triplets. That’s less than 1% of my beats, down from 27% pre-ablation.

So it worked. Yay!

The thing that was supposed to slowly wreck my heart if I ignored it is functionally gone. Also, modern medicine is freaking crazy.

Back in January, I was pretty upset because I had never been healthier and yet still had to deal with this. Now, a few months later, I’m mostly just grateful—I’m grateful the ablation worked. I’m grateful I’d been tracking the right labs and had a cardiologist to call. I’m grateful I had easy access to best-in-class support and facilities. And I’m grateful for my PCP, who ultimately told me to go straight to the hospital and not to first stop and return my Spectrum router 😅.

Ultimately, the experience is a real testament to the positive part of healthcare. Health isn’t a finish line. I said that back in August, and I still believe it, but I do feel like I crossed a checkpoint. And that’s pretty exciting.

I was 38 years young when I realized how elite it is to travel with mini versions of your favorite skincare and shower products. (Never too late for a travel hack, right?) ✈️

Basically buy TSA-friendly containers and fill it with the stuff you actually use. I filled mine with a few staples from my updated skincare routine. This immediately simplified packing and reduced TSA-line stress (IYKYK 😬). Plus, it’s less wasteful than buying single-use minis 👍. 

There are super affordable options on Amazon, like these, which are similar to the ones I have. And a 5HTer recommended these Capsule ones if you want something a little more aesthetic and travel-pro coded.

Directions: Copy, paste, and fill in the prompt below to help you relive your last vacation. Because we tend to jump back into real life way too fast.

👋 Who are you again? I’m Derek Flanzraich—founder of two venture-backed startups in Greatist (👍) and Ness (👎). I’ve worked with brands like GoodRx, Parsley, Midi, Ro, NOCD, and Peloton. I now run Healthyish Content, a premium health content & SEO agency (among other things).

Every Thursday (and now Sunday!), I share healthyish things I feel strongly about. (Disclaimer: I’m more your friend with health benefits. None of this is medical advice.) Also some links are affiliate links, but they influence my decisions zero.

Oh, you also feel strongly about some health things? Hit reply—I’d love to hear it.