“So, let me break it down for you in a couple of ways. SPF actually does matter. Let’s say you’re drawing a graph, and you plot SPF versus actual sun protection. You find that your maximum benefit actually occurs around SPF 15. So, why are we, as dermatologists, always promoting SPF 50, try to go as high as possible? It’s because when the sunscreen manufacturers are doing the research to determine the number that goes on the bottle, they are actually assuming that you’re applying about an ounce of sunscreen every time you put it on, which is supposed to be every two to three hours during heavy sun exposure. So, you can imagine if you were actually using sunscreen the way you were supposed to, you would go through a bottle in about a few days. Most people have the same bottle on their shelf for about a year. So if you get that SPF 50, you’ll at least get to a quarter of the level of protection (on the bottle), so you’ll get yourself to that 15. And, then there a variety of ingredients that are available for sun protection. Some are considered chemical blockers, some are considered physical blockers. We always say that zinc and titanium, which are in the family of physical blockers, are actually the best level of protection from ultraviolet B and ultraviolet A. The balance there is finding something that’s cosmetically acceptable. So if you talk to your dermatologist, you can get a list of brands that probably work best for your skin.”
Reena Rupani, MD, is a board certified dermatologist at Mount Sinai Doctors, seeing patients Monday-Thursday. She has written several publications, including two textbooks, on dermatology and has contributed to multiple peer-reviewed articles. She has a particular interest in both adult and pediatric medical and surgical dermatology, as well as cosmetic care, including Botox, chemical peels, injectable fillers, and laser therapies. Mount Sinai Doctors is an organization of clinical relationships and multi-specialty services that expand the Mount Sinai Health System’s footprint beyond the seven main hospital campuses into the greater New York City area.