SkinFitnessFacts.com News

You protect your skin with hats and sunblock, but it’s just not enough. Every summer you hide from the daytime, but your melasma always comes back with a vengeance. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s not just the sun and hormones that cause melasma to flare; it’s the heat too.

It can be difficult to avoid warm temperatures, but there are a few things you can do to keep your skin cool and your melasma in check.

1. Keep a hand held fan with you in your bag. When you step into a hot car, for example, pull out the fan and cool yoursel.

2. Wear a big white hat and when you are outdoors and feeling  warm, use the hat flap as a little mini air conditioner.

3. Place a cool rag on your face when you are indoors relaxing. Don’t forget to reapply the sunscreen if you plan to go back outside. Always, always, always wear sunscreen.

Many sun protection products rave about their high SPFs of 50, 70 and 80. But is it really necessary to go that high? Of course any protection is better than no protection, but know the SPF facts before you decide.

To prevent premature aging, skin cancer, or sun damaged skin (for example melasma) even a sun block of SPF 5 is better than nothing, but dermatologists recommend a product with full-spectrum coverage with at least an SPF of 15.

There are two types of sun rays to differentiate: ultraviolet-a (UVA) and ultraviolet-b (UVB). UVA are longer wavelengths from the sun and penetrate deeper into the skin and may be the culprit behind aging. UVB rays have shorter wavelengths and are more likely to cause sun burn and skin cancer.

Products that contain SPF (SPF stands for sun protection factor) only protect the skin from UVB rays so it’s important to use a block that is UVA/UVB or broad-spectrum protection.

Technically, SPF represents the amount of time it takes for the skin to redden. For example, with an SPF 15 it will take about five hours for your skin to begin burning while without it the skin will redden within 20 minutes. The higher the SPF the longer it takes for your skin to redden.

Here’s the breakdown on UVB protection

• SPF 15 blocks 93 percent
• SPF 30 blocks 97 percent
• SPF 50 blocks 99 percent

Anything above SPF 50 will provide only a negligible amount of UVB protection.

Just because you apply once in the morning doesn’t mean you are covered at 4pm that afternoon. Make sure to reapply every couple of hours especially if you are in the water or sweating. Most sun blocks will last you two hours.

Skin Fitness Facts recommends a number of full-spectrum sun block products including DDF’s Daily Organic.

There is a lot of talk about Tri-Luma, the cream that claims to treat melasma effectively. It contains fluocinolone acetonide 0.01%, hydroquinone 4%, and tretinoin 0.05% and is meant to treat moderate to extreme melasma.

According to the Tri-Luma web site there have been three studies that prove it works to clear melasma after eight weeks of treatment and one study says its okay to use for any length of time until the melasma clears.

Pregnant women are not advised to use the product since its safety still has not been confirmed. They also recommend women use a non-hormonal birth control.

Side affects include increased proneness to sun burn, dry skin, and irritated skin with redness, peeling and itching. More serious allergic reactions and asthma attacks have also been reported.

Has anyone used it? I’m curious to know what melasma sufferers have to say about it.