Soalian
Kraken
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2019
- Posts
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Published Research:
Now here me out. Every summer I see an uptick in either jokes about avoiding the sun or questions about how many times a day tret users should re-apply sunblock. In reality, there is very little peer-reviewed literature indicating that tret makes your skin more sun sensitive.
In fact, this article,
Reappraising the phototoxicity of Tretinoin
explicitly tests whether or not tret increases your sensitivity to sun. They recognize that “recent literature and FDA-approved package labeling for all tretinoin products state explicitly that tretinoin is both a phototoxin and a photosensitizer. Our findings in four separate trials that tretinoin is neither phototoxic or photoallergenic.” They conclude “thus at least 10 separate studies, including the four reported here, have reached the conclusion that tretinoin is not a phototoxin or photoallergen” (pg. 151). This is just one of those weird medical things that gets repeated and repeated with little evidence to back it up.
I know your doctor probably told you that tret does increase sun sensitivity. The sad fact is many doctors just repeat what they are told in medical school and seldom actually read more current studies.
I am not saying don’t wear sunblock. For god’s sake, please do. I do. We all should. I’m just saying that tret users don’t need to hide in the attic from May till September or figure out ingenious ways to reapply four times a day without ruining your make up. We should be just as careful about sun exposure as everyone else.
Now here me out. Every summer I see an uptick in either jokes about avoiding the sun or questions about how many times a day tret users should re-apply sunblock. In reality, there is very little peer-reviewed literature indicating that tret makes your skin more sun sensitive.
In fact, this article,
Reappraising the phototoxicity of Tretinoin
explicitly tests whether or not tret increases your sensitivity to sun. They recognize that “recent literature and FDA-approved package labeling for all tretinoin products state explicitly that tretinoin is both a phototoxin and a photosensitizer. Our findings in four separate trials that tretinoin is neither phototoxic or photoallergenic.” They conclude “thus at least 10 separate studies, including the four reported here, have reached the conclusion that tretinoin is not a phototoxin or photoallergen” (pg. 151). This is just one of those weird medical things that gets repeated and repeated with little evidence to back it up.
I know your doctor probably told you that tret does increase sun sensitivity. The sad fact is many doctors just repeat what they are told in medical school and seldom actually read more current studies.
I am not saying don’t wear sunblock. For god’s sake, please do. I do. We all should. I’m just saying that tret users don’t need to hide in the attic from May till September or figure out ingenious ways to reapply four times a day without ruining your make up. We should be just as careful about sun exposure as everyone else.