Sunscreen each day keeps ageing skin at bay

A study by researchers at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) showed that after four and a half years, men and women who applied sunscreen most days had no detectable ageing of the skin.

Of the 900 young and middle-aged men and women who participated in the study, 24% had less skin ageing than people who used sunscreen only some of the time, if at all.

Led by Professor Adele Green, in collaboration with investigators at the University of Queensland’s School of Population Health, the research is part of QIMR’s long-running Nambour Skin Cancer Prevention Trial.

“This has been one of those beauty tips you often hear quoted, but for the first time we can back it with science: protecting yourself from skin cancer by using sunscreen regularly has the added bonus of keeping you looking younger,” Green said.

“And the study has shown that up to middle age, it’s not too late to make a difference.”

The study involved half of the participants regularly using SPF15+ sunscreen on their face, arms and hands and the other half using 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 aged under 55, to ensure that photo ageing, rather than chronological ageing, was the major factor in skin changes.

“And of course, along with seeking shade and wearing clothing cover, sunscreen is a mainstay of sun protection. It prevents sunburn in the short term and skin cancer in the long term,” Green said.

The study was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.