This is a topic that I often communicate with patients in the course of my clinic and treatment of melasma, and it is also a part of important information that many melasma patients never fully understand, and is even often ignored by some doctors and patients. The reason why daily precautions are put in a very important position is that 1. for patients who have been cured can prevent the recurrence of melasma (melasma has a certain recurrence rate); 2. for patients in treatment can improve the cure rate of melasma or shorten the time needed for improvement; 3. for patients who have no time for treatment can prevent its further aggravation. So let’s share these points of attention below: Sunshine and beach are the beautiful yearning in many people’s mind, but if you have melasma, you need to make friends with the sun in another way. Although the cause of melasma has not been fully researched yet, it has been affirmed that UV rays from the sun are one of the culprits. Making sun protection the number one precaution is indeed because it is the most important and something that most people can do when they understand it. First of all, when do you need to apply sunscreen? The simplest is to apply it when there is sunshine. Is it possible to not apply it in winter? The intensity of UV rays decreases in winter, but the skin will be drier and less resistant to UV rays, so sunscreen is just as necessary in winter. Do I need it 365 days a year? It is inconvenient and unnecessary. On rainy days, the intensity of UV radiation drops by about 30% compared to normal, and the damage to facial skin is greatly reduced after the intensity drops by 1/3. Of course, if you encounter a day of sunny and rainy weather, sunscreen is still necessary. In addition, if you work for a long time to sit by the window position easy to receive sun exposure, is also the need for sun protection. Secondly, how to apply sunscreen? Apply it twenty to thirty minutes before going out, especially chemical sunscreen, apply it for a certain period of time and react with the skin before it takes effect. How thick is it suitable? As thick as possible. The easy way is to apply it until the melasma on your face is basically covered and invisible. Because research shows that sunscreen needs to be applied to a certain thickness to be effective, at least 2mg of sunscreen per square centimeter, a face needs to use about the amount of a palm, which means a bottle of 30ml of sunscreen will be used up in 20~30 times. How much SPF to apply? Is the higher the better? In fact, SPF ≥ 30 is fine, SPF reflects the duration of sun protection, so if you use SPF 30 sunscreen, you have to replenish it once in 3~4 hours to maintain the effect. Some people may ask nowadays there are too many skin care products, sunscreen should be the appropriate step to apply it? Our advice is the simplest: cleanser-moisturizer/lotion-sunscreen, more complicated: cleanser-toner-moisturizer/lotion-sunscreen-makeup. Finally, what brand of sunscreen to buy? Sunscreen ingredients have been very mature, and each brand is similar, so the current market brand sunscreen can be, but need to be careful not to buy some beauty salons (stores) to promote the so-called brand-name products without production permits, lot numbers or bar codes. If the skin is often allergic (red, swollen, itchy, burning, etc.), it is recommended to buy a physical sunscreen of a pharmaceutical brand, and a refreshing sunscreen of a pharmaceutical brand is also needed for frequent acne, which is not easy to block the pores. Diet Is there any contraindication for melasma patients? No, spicy food is also allowed, but eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, which contain more VitC, VitE and other micronutrients and have the effect of antioxidant to inhibit melanin formation. Sleep The period from midnight to early morning is the time when all organs need to rest and adjust, so does the skin, so try to ensure sufficient sleep during this time, there is no condition to supplement the sleep time during the day, it is generally recommended that the total daily sleep time in 6 to 8 hours. Mood It is often encountered that melasma patients often encounter troublesome things (family relationship tension, sudden increase in work pressure, etc.) and then start to grow spots, and the spots on the face make the mood worse, which affects sleep and diet, and then the melasma aggravates, and so on in a vicious circle. In fact, most people have more or less annoying things in society nowadays, and it is not the annoying things that cause melasma, but the attitude towards the annoying things that affects the occurrence of melasma. Maintaining a healthy and casual mood is sometimes much more useful than taking a lot of whitening drugs, besides, the current medical technology can improve the melasma of most people.