Many of you know that I prefer the use of clothing and hats to protect your skin from the sun rather than the application of all the chemicals that are found in sunscreens. I always recommend that my patients wear a rash guard when they’re going to be in the pool or directly in the sun for an extended period of time. A good quality, dark colored spandex fabric has an SPF of about 40. The darker the fabric and the tighter the weave, the higher it’s SPF. As a comparison, a white T-shirt has an SPF of about 4. Please Keep in mind that I do advocate the use of sunscreens if you cannot cover your skin with clothing! Sunscreens have been shown to protect from the risk of melanoma.
The question here is what do you do when you are unfortunate enough to get a sunburn? The first thing that most people think of when they have a sunburn is to turn to aloe vera gel. There are very few studies evaluating the effectiveness of aloe vera gel and sunburns. I found two studies that showed that it had no effect in treating sunburn and one study that showed that aloe vera did have some antioxidant qualities after sunburn.
Aloe Vera in Dermatology: Topical application of aloe vera is not an effective prevention for radiation-induced injuries and has no sunburn or suntan protection.
Efficacy of Aloe Vera Cream: Our results demonstrate that topical A. Saponaria treatment displayed anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects in a USB-induced sunburn model, and these effects seems to be related to its antioxidant components.
Effects of Aloe Vera: The results showed that the aloe vera cream has no sunburn or suntan protection and no efficacy in sunburn treatment when compared to placebo. The aloe vera cream has no belaching effect too.
When treating a sunburn, we need to think about several factors. First, we want to treat the pain. Second, we want to treat the redness and inflammation. And thirdly, we would like to repair the damage that has been done to our DNA from the ultraviolet radiation.
Many of my patients have notified me that the application of the TrueLipids® Ceramide+ Cream and the TrueLipids® Hydrate, Correct & Perfect Lotion can be very effective in decreasing the pain after their sunburns.
One patient came to see me because her burn was so severe. As I had had so many people tell me how Ceramide+ Cream and Hydrate, Correct & Perfect Lotion seemed to help with the pain associated to sunburn, I recommended she try using them. She came into me a few days later much improved, and reported that she experienced no pain from the burn after the application of the Ceramide+ Cream.
This last week my own daughter came home from the park with a sunburn. She had gone to the park with a friend, and her dermatologist mother was not there to supervise the wearing of a rash guard. I didn’t even know she had a sunburn until that night she when she cried about her back hurting. I lifted up her shirt, and this is what I saw. As you can imagine when a dermatologist’s daughter gets a sunburn, it’s a really big deal!
I decided to give her Ceramide+ Cream. I applied a really thick layer to all of the areas of burn. The next morning, eleven hours later, she had no pain and the redness of the burn was much decreased. I was very pleased. I continued to apply the cream 2-3 times a day for the next few days. The redness gradually resolved, as it normally would. But the most remarkable thing was that she complained of no pain from the moment I applied the cream. I believe that the reason that she didn’t hurt was because Ceramide+ Cream is effective due to three important molecules:
- Niacinamide: This is a form of vitamin B three that has significant anti-inflammatory qualities and has even mention to repair some forms of DNA damage in melanocytes (The pigment cells that become melanoma from sun exposure) After UV exposure. Niacinamide also has antioxidant qualities–Something that is very important after sun exposure because sun exposure causes the generation of free radicals in your skin. These free radicals end up damaging and breaking your DNA leading to the mutations that cause cancer. The use of an antioxidant can help to absorb the free radicals and potentially prevent the damage of your DNA.
- Gluconolactone: Guconolactone is a polyhydroxy acid that has also been shown to enhance repair of UV-induced DNA damage after sun exposure and also has antioxidant qualities.
- 18-ß glycyrrhetinic acid: This is a molecule from licorice root that has significant anti-inflammatory qualities but has also been shown to have DNA repair properties after UV exposure. It also has antioxidant qualities.
So, this summer, use clothing and hats to protect your skin from the sun, or opt for wearing a rash guard when you know you’ll be directly in the sun or in the water for an extended period of time… Unless necessary, try to avoid the use sunscreens, as they contain harmful chemicals. And if a burn does happen, use TrueLipids® Ceramide+ Cream to reduce redness, pain, and repair the DNA damage from the ultraviolet radiation.
