Regarding this issue, Dr. Pham Thi Thao, Deputy Head of the Examination Department (Duc Giang General Hospital) shared: Sunscreen pills do not have the miraculous effects as advertised, women need to pay close attention. It is not difficult to find sunscreen pills being sold online with all kinds of attractive invitations such as: "Go out in the sun, go to the beach regardless, don't get dark", "sunscreen only protects against physical and chemical sun, while pills are biological sunscreen, against sunlight uniformly"... Specifically, the types of sunscreen pills advertised by many sellers are all hand-carried goods originating from the United States, Japan, Germany... with prices ranging from 150,000 VND to 2,500,000 VND/box depending on the type. Advertising is common on e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada.

Illustration photo. Source: VTV

However, the advertisement of sunscreen pills with the perfect skin protection function from the inside on some websites is not really accurate. Sunscreen pills have the role of supporting the protection of the skin from the harmful effects of UV rays, however, these pills absolutely cannot replace sunscreen. Many women mistakenly believe and believe in the advertisement of sunscreen pills that have the effect of lasting all day. Because of this trust, many women only take these functional pills without applying sunscreen, leading to skin darkening and the effect is not as expected.

In addition, the advertisement about the melasma treatment effect of sunscreen pills is completely incorrect. In my opinion, melasma treatment is quite difficult, because the possibility of recurrence is very high, and there is no long-term effect. Therefore, melasma treatment must be done regularly, continuously and maintained for a long time. To treat, women need to visit a doctor to know the clinical level of the skin, from which doctors can give appropriate treatment regimen.

Sunscreen pills include the following ingredients: Lycopene, beta-carotene, vitamin E, vitamin C, these are substances that have the effect of fighting the harmful effects of UV rays but not much, only equivalent to sunscreen cream with SPF 15. Some other sunscreen pills may contain glutathione, vitamin C, which have the effect of whitening the skin, so some sellers take advantage of this point to appeal to the psychology of women who want sun protection and skin whitening.

In my opinion, to protect the skin from the sun most effectively, as well as treat skin diseases caused by sunlight, patients should go to medical facilities with dermatology specialists to be examined, diagnosed and given appropriate treatment regimens. At the same time, receive advice and instructions from doctors on how to avoid the sun most effectively, safely and economically.

Health-related questions should be sent to the “Your Doctor” section, Economic-Social-Internal Affairs Editorial Department, People’s Army Newspaper, 8 Ly Nam De, Hang Ma, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. Email: [email protected], [email protected]. Phone: 0243.8456735.