| Sun skin care chat with Dr Sarah Brewer
Dr Sarah Brewer joins the iVillage community to answer questions on how to take care of your skin in the sun I have very fair skin and have always steered clear of the sun. Is this to be my fate for life? What factor of sunscreen would take me through a lovely Mediterranean holiday? And what else can we poor lasses with thin, fragile skin do? Sadly, fair-skinned people will always have to be careful in the sun. As a general rule, the highest SPF products are best for those with fair skin. As well as covering up in the sun and avoiding exposure to sun during the hottest time of day (11am-3pm), look after your skin with moisturising products, take evening primrose oil to nourish it internally, and consider an antioxidant supplement to help reduce premature skin ageing. I tend to break out in tiny little spots all over my back and chest in the sun. It was diagnosed as acne years ago and I got Dalicin. Is there anyway of preventing these? I'm off to Spain and want to avoid a spot breakout! This sounds like prickly heat - a common and irritating skin rash linked with excess sweating. It usually affects areas where sweat accumulates such as at the chest, waist, back, armpits and groin. Its medical name, miliaria rubra, literally means red millet seeds and describes the appearance of tiny, multiple inflamed, itchy spots in affected areas. The rash is accompanied by irritating prickling sensations due to over-stimulation of nerve endings, which makes you want to scratch. In some cases, salt crystals form in the sweat gland ducts too and small fluid-filled blisters appear (miliaria crystallina), which usually disappear without problems. It is thought to occur when unevaporated sweat builds up on the skin in hot humid conditions so the skin becomes soggy and sweat glands are blocked. Sweat is thought to leak from the glands into surrounding tissues to trigger inflammation. In some cases, heat rash is complicated by fungal skin infections, in which case applying an antifungal cream (e.g. one per cent clotrimazole) will help the irritation settle. Some people find antihistamine tablets or cream helpful, while a cream or lotion containing anti-itch treatments such as crotamiton or calamine may bring relief. Prickly heat usually improves as you become acclimatised to the heat, and on returning to cooler weather.
Aloe vera gel has anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and healing properties and usually works well for skin conditions such as prickly heat. Herbalists advise bathing the affected area with a cold infusion of marigold or lavender to reduce inflammation. An aromatherapist may suggest adding one drop of sandalwood and four drops of lavender essential oils to 30ml calendula carrier oil to make a soothing lotion that can be applied to the skin. Should you put sunblock on moles? I've a few moles, which I keep an eye on, but are there any tips for mole-safety! Always use a high SPF to protect all skin - for added protection you can apply sunblock to moles if you wish. Covering up with clothing is also a good idea. If you have lots of moles this is not always practical, however. Keep an eye on them and report any changes such as turning darker, itching, scabbing, bleeding or ulcerating. I suffer from polymorphic light eruption. My GP just says stay covered up and out of the sun...is there nothing else that can be done? Allergy to sunlight is increasingly common and thought to affect up to 20 per cent of people. The form known as polymorphic light eruption (PLE) produces an itchy, raised red rash several hours after sun exposure. Small lumps, blisters and scaly areas known as plaques can also occur. Symptoms start within hours of sun exposure and last between several hours and several days. Only skin exposed to the sun is affected, such as the backs of hands, lower arms, face and the V of the neck. Sufferers first notice eruptions in the spring and it often improves in summer as skin becomes harder and more tanned. Each year, the rash returns in the same place once the sun starts coming out regularly - usually in May. The exact cause of polymorphic light eruption is not fully understood, but it is thought to be an allergy to ultraviolet light - specifically UVA - which is also responsible for the ageing effects of sunlight. The only effective treatment is a broad spectrum sunscreen that filters out UVA light as well as UVB. Check with your pharmacist for advice before buying a sunblock as some preparations only filter out UVB rays. As UVA light is not screened out by glass (although UVB is), bear in mind that you can still develop PLE while sitting by a window; you may therefore need to screen house and car windows. I've heard a lot about the increased risk of developing skin cancer in adulthood when you were sunburnt as a child. As a child I was forever getting burnt and now that I am a bit older and wiser I am concerned about what harm I may have done to my skin. Is the risk high and now I use at least an SPF 30 when in the sun will this protect me enough? Getting severely burnt in childhood does seem to double the risk of skin cancer in later life. Damage is additive, however, so any protection you use now will help to reduce your overall risk - a high SPF is therefore a good idea. As well as covering up, avoid exposure during the hottest times (e.g. 11am-3pm). Taking an antioxidant supplement that helps to reduce free radical damage (e.g. containing selenium, vitamins C and E and carotenoids) is also worthwhile. Are there different rules or products to protect your scalp from the sun than there are for skin, and without damaging your hair? A number of products are available that you apply to hair to absorb UV rays and reduce hair damage - these are widely available. Wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat is a good idea to protect your scalp. How often should I put on my sun cream? Every hour or when I can feel that I'm burning? Reapply regularly, according to instructions, or at least every hour and after swimming. If you can feel yourself burning, then cover up or get out of the sun. An SPF factor can only protect you for so long (e.g. if you usually burn within ten minutes, an SPF of 15 will help stop you burning for up to 150 minutes) but after this length of time you will still burn, however much cream you reapply. Therefore be sensible and limit your exposure. Is it true that you shouldn't wear less than a factor 15 sunscreen and that any sunscreens over factor 30 will not give you any more protection than a 30? Sunscreens are rated according to their sun protection factor (SPF), which shows how effective they are at filtering ultraviolet-B rays. SPF ratings range from 2 to over 45, and are worked out according to the length of time skin covered with sunscreen takes to burn compared to unprotected skin. If you turn red after ten minutes in the sun, an SPF15 screen would allow you to stay out 15 times longer - i.e. 150 minutes. Higher SPFs do not give proportionately greater protection. An SPF15 gives 93 per cent protection, for example, while an SPF34 gives 97 per cent protection. I would always use at least an SPF16 (this is the advice from skin cancer experts) and for children consider using much higher - or a total sunblock. Do people with black and Asian skin tones have to use the same sun protection products as those with Caucasian skins - or can they get away with being a little bit less vigilant? SPFs add on to the natural level of protection you have from your skin. Those with darker skin tones will burn less quickly than those with lighter skin tones, but can still burn eventually. If you have light skin and normally burn after ten minutes in the sun, using SPF16 means you will have some protection against burning for up to 160 minutes. If you have a darker skin, and don't burn until after 30 minutes in the sun, the same SPF16 will provide some protection for up to 30 x 16 = 8 hours. You would still start to burn eventually, however. Why not chat about skin care and other health issues on the Lets Talk About Health message board. Take a look at some of the LIVE discussions taking place on the board right now:
|