Sunscreen Keep Your Skin From Aging

By George K. Verghese, MD

Mid-Atlantic Skin Surgery Institute

. https://midatlanticskinsurgery.com/

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Sunscreen Keep Your Skin From Aging

It is a proven fact that regular and proper use of sunscreen can help prevent skin cancer. However, a recent study has revealed that daily use of broad spectrum sunscreen also slows down the aging process of skin.

Conducted by researchers at Queensland Institute of Medical Researchin Australia, the study of approximately 900 young and middle-aged men and women showed that after four and a half years, those who routinely applied sunscreen most days had no detectable aging of the skin.They also had 24% less skin aging than people who used sunscreen only some of the time, if at all.

In the groundbreaking study, half of the participants regularly used sunscreen with a sun protection factor, or SPF, of 15 (which filters 92% of the sun's rays) on their face, arms and hands and the other half used sunscreen in their usual way, if at all. Silicone impressions, or moulds, were taken from the backs of all participants' hands at the start and end of the trial to grade the damage over the four and a half years of the study. The participants were all under the age of 55, to ensure that photo-aging, rather than chronological aging, was the major factor in skin changes.

The researchers also found that study participants who already had a good amount of sun damage had an improvement in the aging of the skin.

To get the maximum health benefits of sunscreen it is important to use it daily and properly, including re-applying sunscreen after being outside for a few hours, after going in the water, or after sweating heavily. It is also important to note that new FDA guidelines for sunscreen protection recommend using an SPF of 30.

While this has been one of those beauty tips you often hear quoted, this study is the first time it can be backed with science protecting yourself from skin cancer by using sunscreen regularly has the added bonus of keeping you looking younger.