Five developments in sunscreen on Memorial Day weekend

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, and with that comes the reminder to practice sun safety and use sunscreen.

Healio.com/Dermatology shares five recently reported developments in sunscreen:

Most people incorrectly applied free sunscreen at public event

When free sunscreen was made available at the Minnesota State Fair, only one-third of the participants applied sunscreen to all sun-exposed areas, according to recent research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

“These results highlight some of the ways people use sunscreen incorrectly,” researcher Ingrid Polcari, MD, FAAD, an assistant professor in the dermatology department of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, stated in a news release from the American Academy of Dermatology. Read more

American Academy of Dermatology issues statement on sunscreen safety

The American Academy of Dermatology has released a statement on sunscreen, emphasizing that “sunscreen remains a safe, effective form of sun protection.”

“As one component of a daily sun-protection strategy, sunscreen is an important tool in the fight against skin cancer, including melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer,” Henry W. Lim, MD, FAAD, president of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), stated in a news release. Read more

SPF 100 sunscreen provides superior UV protection than shade from umbrellas

Sunscreen lotion with an SPF of 100 protected skin better from UV rays than shade from beach umbrellas, according to study results published in JAMA Dermatology.

“Some widely used shading devices, such as beach umbrellas, may have high UV protection factor ratings but do not protect skin from UV rays whose angles of approach are diffused by atmospheric particles or reflected from the ground,” the researchers wrote. Read more

Survey shows dermatologists agree on sunscreen recommendations, safety

A majority of dermatologists agree that FDA-approved sunscreens protect against skin cancer and photoaging, recommend the use of sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, and often use sunscreens with an SPF of at least 50, according to survey results published in JAMA Dermatology.

A survey was provided to U.S. dermatologists attending a national educational conference on April 9, 2016. Read more

Daily use of broad spectrum sunscreen may reverse signs of photodamage

Women who applied broad-spectrum photostable sunscreen to their face daily for a year showed improvement in the signs of existing photodamaged skin, according to study results recently published in Dermatologic Surgery.

Researchers studied 33 women aged 40 to 55 years with Fitzpatrick skin types 1 to 3, mild-to-moderate photodamage and in general good health. Read more