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Tag: sunscreen
Sunburn Treatment: Can’t Rush Healing, But Use These Tips For Comfort

Sunburn Treatment: Can’t Rush Healing, But Use These Tips For Comfort

From Mayo Clinic News Network, (TNS)

“Unfortunately, there’s no fast-fix sunburn treatment. Once you have sunburn, the damage is done — although it may take 12 to 24 hours after sun exposure to know the full extent and severity of sunburn, and several days or more for your skin to begin to heal,” says Trent Anderson, Mayo Clinic Health System family medicine physician.

In the meantime, the most effective sunburn treatment simply helps ease your discomfort:

  • Keep it cool. Apply cold compresses, such as a towel dampened with cool water, to the affected skin. Or take a cool bath.
  • Keep it moist. Apply aloe or moisturizing cream to the affected skin. Avoid products containing alcohol, which can further dry out skin. Beware of sunburn treatment products containing anesthetics, such as benzocaine. There’s little evidence that these products are effective. In some cases, they may even irritate the skin. Benzocaine has been linked to a rare but serious, sometimes deadly, condition that decreases the amount of oxygen that the blood can carry. Don’t use benzocaine in children younger than age 2 without supervision from a health-care professional, as this age group has been most affected. If you’re an adult, never use more than the recommended dose of benzocaine, and consider talking about it with your doctor.
  • Leave blisters intact. If blisters form, don’t break them. Doing so only slows the healing process and increase the risk of infection. If needed, lightly cover blisters with gauze.
  • Take an over-the-counter pain reliever. If needed, take anti-inflammatory medication _ such as aspirin or ibuprofen _ according to the label instructions until redness and soreness subside. Don’t give children or teenagers aspirin. It may cause Reye’s syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease.
  • Treat peeling skin gently. Within a few days, the affected area may begin to peel. This is simply your body’s way of getting rid of the top layer of damaged skin. While your skin is peeling, continue to use moisturizing cream.

“Consult a health-care provider for sunburn treatment if severe sunburn covers a large portion of your body with blisters, (if) sunburn is accompanied by a high fever or (if) severe pain or severe sunburn doesn’t begin to improve within a few days,” says Dr. Anderson.

To prevent future episodes of sunburn, use sunscreen frequently and liberally. Select a broad-spectrum product _ one that provides protection against both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation _ with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. If you take medications that make sunburn more likely, be especially careful. A common example is tetracycline taken orally for acne. Common sense counts too. Cover up while you’re outdoors, and stay in the shade as much as possible.

(c)2015 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Photo: Kevin O’Mara via Flickr

What You Need To Know About Sunscreen

What You Need To Know About Sunscreen

Summer has arrived, and with it, gorgeous sunny days. As crowds gather outside to welcome the warmer weather, everyone starts slathering on a summer staple: sunscreen.

But not all sunscreens are created equal. According to The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that studies human and environmental health, sunscreen is not nearly as effective as most Americans believe it is — and this is contributing to increasing skin cancer rates.

Sunscreen ingredients and labeling are also not severely regulated in the United States and Europe, which leads to confused customers buying ineffective and possibly harmful sunscreens.

The best thing you can do is get informed. Here are some red flags to look for:

1. High SPF

SPF is short for sun protection factor, and some people just can’t get enough of it. It’s easy to find sunscreens with an SPF of 70, 85, or even 100, but the Food and Drug Administration has attempted to ban SPF values that high, due to increased health risks.

Studies have shown that sunscreens with high SPFs are more prone to misuse and often include ingredients that can damage tissue or trigger allergic reactions. No need to reach that high anyway: an SPF of 50 provides plenty of protection when used correctly.

2. Added Vitamin A

Though additional vitamins may sound like a great thing, common additives used to boost the efficacy of Vitamin A in sunscreens have been shown to actually accelerate the growth of skin cancers. Avoid ingredients such as retinyl palmitate, retinyl acetate, and retinyl linoleate.

3. Avoid Aerosols

The FDA has cautioned against using spray-on sunscreens for several reasons.

First, aerosol sunscreens are difficult to apply sufficiently, leading to thin coverage and increasing the risk for skin damage.

Spray-on sunscreens are also easily inhaled, exposing the lungs to a variety of chemicals can damage tissue, especially in children.

Plus, aerosols are highly flammable. And the idea, you’ll recall, is to avoid getting burned.

All in all, the best way to protect skin in bright summer weather is to limit sun exposure. Sunglasses, hats, and cover-ups are the most foolproof ways to avoid sun damage and painful burns. Wear plenty of sunscreen with an SPF between 15 and 50, and make sure to reapply every two hours.

For more information, check out these resource pages from the FDA and CDC.

Photo: Sacha Fernandez via Flickr

F.D.A. Moves Forward, Finally, on Regulating Sunscreen

Sunscreen manufacturers have historically had free reign to claim they are “waterproof” (when this is impossible) and that they offer “broad-spectrum” protection (without a clear, nationwide definition of what this means). Since the late 1970s, the Food and Drug Administration has been pressured to step up its rulemaking on the subject, and it finally did today, announcing new requirements set to take effect this time next year. Among them are a ban on claims of being waterproof; instead, water resistance can be claimed after a specified number of minutes, if tests validate the claims. Further, broad-spectrum protection is defined as protecting against both UVA and UVB rays, which are dangerous in distinct ways even if they both can cause cancer.

That it took decades for rule-making on the subject suggests either that the sunscreen lobby has had more sway on Capitol Hill than most of us imagined possible, or simply that the F.D.A. dragged its feet on this for a hell of a long time. [NYT]