Health Help

Q Does wearing a higher SPF mean I can spend more time in the sun?

Yes and no. SPF stands for “Sun Protection Factor”, and the number beside it indicates how well the sunscreen protects skin against sunburn. It’s not an indicator of how long you can stay out in the sun; rather, it specifies how much longer it takes untanned skin to start to redden with sunscreen applied, compared to how long it takes to start reddening without it.

There are a couple of other things that are good to know when it comes to SPF. SPF is determined by tests in which liberal amounts of sunscreen are applied. This means that, to actually achieve the protection indicated, sunscreen needs to be applied thickly enough – and many people don’t. You also need to reapply the sunscreen every two hours, as it can come off through sweat or by being rubbed off by clothing. Hence, a higher SPF doesn’t necessarily mean you can spend more time in the sun.

Likewise, when it comes to a sunscreen’s SPF, is bigger better? Although the differences in SPF values seem large, there’s actually very little difference between how much UVB they filter. An SPF 50 or higher filters 98 percent of UVB, compared with 96.7 percent filtered by SPF 30 sunscreens. And, an SPF 30 sunscreen applied properly, will give better protection than an SPF 50 or higher sunscreen applied too thinly or not frequently enough.

Angeline Yong Dermatology #03-02 Gleneagles Medical Centre, 6 Napier Road

6592 1311 | ayd.com.sg