Hey eveyone, i am a 15 year old girl and i hav been on accutane for nearly three months now..
The problem is that i live in Italy and here it is very sunny already in April/May , my doctor sayd i should stay out of the Sun but it's practicly impossible! I love sunbaving and all my friends are starting to go to the beach..i would wear suncream but i am still kinda breaking out and i heard that Sun cream is not good for the skin:(
Can anyone tell me why i should stay out of the sun? Or what happens if i don't?
Thanks!
Ps. Look what a lovely day!
Short answer: Dont do it, youll get burned to crisp (even if you are a natural tanned person) and worsen your acne, scars / red marks.
Long answer: Your skin will be much more sensitive on Accutane, so you will basically burn more easily if you are exposed to sunlight. This applies even if you easily tan, and are not a fair-skinned person. We had our first sunny day here in England a few weeks ago. I didnt expect to burn after less than an hour outside, only running a few errands, but I did and burnt my neck and arm. Thankfully not my face!
Sunlight can also worsen the appearance of acne, scars / red marks as its ultraviolet rays stimulate pigment producing skin cells. You are trying to clear your skin with Accutane, and purposely sun bathing will make it worse. That kinda makes the whole treatment pointless in my opinion. You cant do both. Its one of them situations where you would need to choose one or the other, Accutane or sunbathing. But there is no point choosing, as at three months into treatment you have enough Accutane in your system that it will take you many more months to get it completely out of your system. If you stopped today, your skin will still be fragile and youll still experience direct side-effects of Accutane for another three months to six, maybe more.
The best thing I can suggest to you to do is avoid purposely prolonged sun exposed from sunbathing and the like for the duration of your Accutane treatment, and as well, many months after it too. Allow the treatment to take affect and give your body and skin time to recover fully. Dont shut yourself away however, you can still carry on with your life in the summer. The average person needs at least factor 15 sun cream on when they are exposed to sunlight, so I would suggest you apply and carry around with you a bottle of factor 50 when you are outside on sunny day. Look forward to next summer when you have clear, healthy skin and body again and can enjoy yourself.
I hope this helps, the best of luck to you!
