How to protect your skin when outside more due to COVID-19

When it comes to the sun, I prefer no sun exposure at all. But that’s not always realistic, especially now with COVID — outside is the safest place to exercise.

So, how do you protect your skin in the sun? Here are my top tips that I personally recommend to my patients to keep their skin protected.

Wear sun-protective clothing. Hold the clothing up to the light. If you are able to see light through the fabric, it has less protection than if you do not see light. For example, a white T-shirt only has an SPF of 3 to 5, so it is best to get UPF-labeled sun-protective clothing instead.

Wear sunscreen. I recommend an SPF of 40 or higher when out in the sun for more than 30 minutes at a time. It is also important to use water-resistant SPF if sweating or in water. Remember to reapply after immersion in water and every hour.

Take a polypodium leucotomos supplement. Heliocare is a popular oral supplement that contains this natural ingredient — it is derived from a specific type of fern and offers protection against the inflammation caused by sun exposure.

Limit the amount of sun you get in the beginning to slowly build your tan. Sun is always harmful to skin, but getting a sunburn is the most harmful. If you must get sun, take steps to ensure you do not burn.

Take an antioxidant supplement such as vitamin C. Do this prior to sun exposure to give your skin extra free radical protection. A good amount of vitamin C is 500 mg.

Drink green tea while in the sun. Green tea contains powerful antioxidants and also has anti-inflammatory properties to decrease inflammation caused by the sun.

Avoid skin contact with limes, figs and oil of bergamot. These ingredients can cause an adverse skin reaction when exposed to the sun, causing patches of discoloration.

Watch out for these ingredients both in skin care products and in drinks and foods, including Earl Grey tea.

Eat blueberries, cranberries, strawberries and oranges. These foods boost your antioxidant protection.

What to do if you sunburn?

If you do happen to get a sunburn, follow these steps to help your skin heal:

▪ Apply aloe or argan oil to soothe the skin and calm inflammation.

▪ Take ibuprofen 400 mg every four hours, and take vitamin C supplements of at least 500 mg.

▪ Take a 200 mg-400 mg coenzyme Q10 supplement to give your body energy to repair the damage. Take this in the morning, because it gives you a caffeine-like effect.

▪ Get a good night’s sleep. DNA repair happens at night, and if you do not get 7 hours of sleep, the DNA is not repaired properly.

▪ Moisturize with a barrier repair moisturizer like Zerafite Body Cream on top of the argan oil or aloe.

For more skincare tips and tricks, be sure to follow Baumann Cosmetic on YouTube, follow @BaumannCosmetic on Instagram or Facebook, or go to https://www.skintypesolutions.com/.