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What is the best sunscreen for rosacea?

What is the best sunscreen for rosacea? I have been newly diagnosed and have been told how important it is to protect my skin from daylight on a daily basis and want to make sure I don't fumble on this. There are just too many sunscreens available on the market, and most I have tried irritate my skin or make my complexion white and pasty. Susan L., Ohio. USA.

Thank you for contacting us with your question, it's great to hear from someone who is concerned about what is meant by optimal sunscreen use.

For rosacea patients to benefit fully from sunscreen use, they must apply their sunscreen 365 days a year, irrespective of season or cloud coverage.

This is because the most detrimental of the sun's rays are "ultraviolet," meaning beyond violet, the last colour in the rainbow of visible light.

For all intensive purposes, in the medium to long term, ultraviolet light is as much a risk factor for worsening rosacea symptoms in the bright of summer as the relative dark of winter. Remember that ultraviolet penetrates glass.

If you don't wear sunscreen year-long, those seemingly brief episodes of exposure sitting by windows, traveling in a car and running daily errands actually add up to the equivalent of several sunburns each year. Although the damage is incremental and not accompanied by visible burning or tanning, your skin registers (and doesn't forget or substantially repair) the damage.

An added benefit of year-long sunscreen use is that it is one of the very few proven (and relatively inexpensive) means by which to protect against visible signs of aging, also known as sun damage, or in dermatological parlance, as photoaging.

Unfortunately, paraben preservatives, found in the majority of sunscreens, have been shown to heighten the photodamage which helps cause and exacerbate rosacea and premature signs of aging. If at all possible, avoid parabens in your sunscreen and skin care.

Sunscreen also protects against skin-degrading enzymes and free radicals which reduce facial volume and encourage fine and deep wrinkles.

There are a lot of sunscreens available on the market and everyone has different preferences.

As a general rule, sunscreens available in drug stores, chemists and supermarkets (if not 100% zinc or titanium dioxide) tend to irritate the skin of rosacea patients sooner or later. If purchasing sunscreen from these outlets, I recommend pediatric sunscreens.

Aim for sunscreens containing zinc oxide as the only sunscreening agent, or at most zinc plus one chemical block, or if you prefer a non-whitening sunscreen, sunscreens without zinc containing 4-5 chemical blocks (anything less and the sunscreen is most likely not going to provide extended protection against UVA, the most aging and deleterious form of ultraviolet light for rosacea patients).

I would generally avoid sunscreens which contain more than approximately 15% zinc because they tend to be very difficult to remove, with the zinc usually suspended in beeswax or mineral oil.

When sunscreen is difficult to remove, you're likely to do some damage to your skin's barrier and provoke redness and irritation, or alternatively, you won't get the sunscreen off completely at the end of the day, hampering the absorption, and efficacy, of any topical rosacea medications or skin care you apply.

The clinic has developed two sunscreens to meet the specific needs of rosacea patients: Rosacea Oil-Free Antioxidant Daily Wear Sunscreen, a non-whitening sunscreen which is fortified with a broad-spectrum of antioxidants which help reduce inflammation, free radical damage and photoaging; and Hypoallergenic Daily Wear Sunscreen, containing an elegant zinc sunscreen and green tea for added antioxidant protection. While the latter is slightly whitening, spending the time to massage the sunscreen in thoroughly largely avoids this problem. If you wear make-up, you may even find that the sunscreen is an effective skin tone-perfecting base for foundation or other make-up.

Because no one sunscreen is absolutely perfect, some patients apply both in more moderate quantities.

These two sunscreens do not contain the parabens which increase photodamage and provoke rosacea symptoms.

Author: Gina Verginis.

Questions: E-Mail questions2010@rosacea-treatment-clinic.com.au

Reviewed: Wednesday, 12 May 2010.

Further Information: Rosacea Oil-Free Antioxidant Daily Wear Sunscreen SPF 30 — All Skin Types : Rosacea Hypoallergenic Daily Wear Sunscreen SPF 20 — All Skin Types : Rosacea Complete Sunscreen Set : Video: Types of Daylight (Visible, Invisible) : Video: Concerning Ultraviolet Light : Sunscreen Use Protects Rosacea Patient Autonomy : General Recommendations for Sun Protection in Rosacea Patients : Invisible Daylight Exposure Produces Dry Skin in Rosacea : Flawed Sunscreen Use and Lost "Anti-Aging" Effects : Rosacea Sunscreen SPF Updated (April 2008) : Paraben Preservatives and Sun Damage : SPF 20 Rosacea Sunscreen Inquiry : What is the best sunscreen for rosacea? : UVA (Ultraviolet A) : SPF (Sun Protection Factor) for Rosacea : Antioxidant Sunscreens :

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