Social networks: the “anti-sunscreen” trend worries dermatologists

Social networks are sometimes the source of the worst health ideas. A hashtag is becoming more and more popular on TikTok: #antisunscreen, which means “anti-sunscreen”. As the British media explains Glamourwell-being influencers, without any medical training, recommend to their followers to stop using sunscreen, and to favor natural alternatives.

Sunscreen: what are these influencers proclaiming on TikTok?

Followed by more than 40,000 people, Shannon Fairweather shares her tips for avoiding sunburn. In a recent video, she explains that she stopped using sunscreen so as not to “use chemicals” and favors other methods like coconut oil or going to the shade when she has spent too much time in the sun. These “natural solutions” are far from sufficient to protect against ultraviolet (UV) rays. As reminded by Ministry of Health, “don’t forget that at the beach the parasol is useful, but it does not fully protect you because of the reverberation of the sun’s rays on the sand”. For health professionals, it is preferable to avoid the sun between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m., hours when the UV rays emitted by the sun are the most intense in metropolitan France.

@shannonfairweatherr Replying to @aliyah avoid sunscreen & sunburns ???????? #antisunscreen #naturalliving #fyp ♬ original sound – Shannon Fairweather

Other TikTok influencers tout the natural benefits of the sun or question skin cancer. Emma Leigh, whose biography indicates that she studies “medicine natural”claims that sunscreens are “filled with chemicals, such as oxybenzone which generates free radicals which become carcinogenic in the event of exposure to the sun”.

‘Anti-sunscreen’ videos circulate ideas that are dangerous to your health

Asked by Glamour, Paul Banwell, surgeon specializing in skin cancer, is alarmed by the dissemination of these ideas on the social network. “This anti-sunscreen message is extremely concerning because by encouraging people not to wear SPF, you put them at risk for sunburn and skin cancer.“, develops this specialist. In the review Nylon, another health professional points out the risks of this trend. Dermatologist Blair Murphy-Rose points out that everyone should wear a Solar creamwhatever the type of skin and that it is necessary to avoid “follow these trends. Indeed, if coconut oil, acclaimed by Shannon Fairweather, nourishes and hydrates the skin, none of its components has the ability to protect the epidermis from all UV rays.

For fans of more eco-friendly products or those suffering from skin problems (allergies), Paul Banwell recommends using mineral-based sunscreens. “I would avoid sunscreens containing oxybenzone, octinoxate, avobenzone, benzophenones, cinnamates and dibenzoylmethane”he adds.

For her part, Laurence Netter, dermatologist consulted by CNewswished to recall that “UV rays are much more toxic than the use of these creams” solar.

Sun: what are the health risks?

Whatever the type of protection chosen, you must use at least an index 30, or even an index 50. In addition, you must renew the application every 2 hours and after each swim. Wearing covering clothes is the best protection against the sun and sunglasses. Indeed, the only total screen is clothing. It is important for his health to apply these instructions.

“Exposure to the sun presents risks: on the skin, it causes sunburn, premature aging, allergies and, in the most serious cases, cancers (melanomas and carcinomas), remind him Ministry of Health. For the eyes, serious lesions may appear short term such as ophthalmia (a ‘sunburn’ of the eye), or longer term such as cataracts or retinal degeneration.”

In France, approximately 80,000 skin cancers are diagnosed each year.