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Undo Summer: Tips & Treatments to Reverse Sun Damage

 

Despite your best efforts with sunscreen and hats, summer fun often comes with uninvited guests: brown spots, wrinkles, and sun-induced skin damage. As we transition into fall, it's the perfect time to reverse the effects of those long, sun-soaked days. Whether through at-home skincare routines or in-office treatments, there are many effective ways to rejuvenate your skin and restore its glow.

Here’s a guide on how to reset and repair your skin after the summer months.

1. Establish a Morning Skincare Routine

After a summer of sweat, sunscreen, and outdoor exposure, it is crucial to adopt a morning skincare routine that focuses on protection and prevention.

-Start with an Antioxidant Serum: Incorporating a vitamin C serum into your morning routine is essential. It helps protect against free radicals and lightens brown spots caused by UV exposure. Try our Day Preventive Treatment which contains 10% THD vitamin C.
-Moisturize: After applying your serum, follow up with a skin-supportive moisturizer that nourishes and protects your skin. Doctor Rogers Face Lotion and Face Cream work well even on delicate skin around the eyes and neck.
-Sunscreen, Always: Even as the days get shorter, a zinc-based sunscreen with at least SPF 30 is non-negotiable. UV rays can still cause damage, so never skip this step. Some of Dr. Rogers’ favorites are Kinfield, Kinship and Dermaquest. A list with links can be found here.

2. Nighttime Skincare for Repair and Correction

Your nighttime skincare routine is when the real magic happens. While you're asleep, your skin undergoes repair and recovery, making it the perfect time to tackle damage.

-Gentle Cleanser: Start with a gentle yet effective cleanser, such as the Doctor Rogers Face Wash, to remove oil, grime, and sunscreen residue from the day.
-Treatment with Retinol or AHAs: Retinoids, like tretinoin or retinol, are excellent for promoting cell turnover, unclogging pores, and fading sun spots. For something less irritation, but still as effective, try our Night Repair Treatment that is formulated with bakuchiol and glycolic acid. Alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) such as lactic or glycolic acid also work well for exfoliation.
-Tip: When starting a retinoid, use the “low and slow” method. Begin with a low concentration, and apply it only twice a week, slowly increasing usage as your skin tolerates it. This will help avoid irritation, dryness, and redness.
-Hydrate: Follow your treatment with a hydrating moisturizer like Doctor Rogers Face Cream to protect and nourish your skin overnight.

3. Handling Irritated Skin

If you overdo it with retinoids or AHAs and your skin becomes irritated, take a step back. Symptoms like peeling, burning, or redness indicate you need to pause on active ingredients. Switch to a gentle cleanser and a healing moisturizer, and continue using zinc-based sunscreen daily. This "reset" period will help your skin recover.

4. Advanced At-Home Treatments

For those with more stubborn hyperpigmentation, a prescription-strength option like hydroquinone can be effective. This potent ingredient helps inhibit the formation of melanin, lightening dark spots. Hydroquinone works best when paired with tretinoin and a topical steroid, a combination available in products like Tri-Luma.

At-home red light therapy can also help correct the summer sun damage. Dr. Rogers favorite devices are Omnilux and Celluma. Learn more about what they can do for your skin here. 

5. Laser Treatments: A Dermatologist’s Touch

In office laser treatments are a fantastic way to target sun damage. Fall is a great time to schedule these procedures as you're less likely to be exposed to the sun during recovery. Laser treatments require expertise and training with a great understanding of skin and how it will respond. Make sure you are getting treatments where there is a doctor, ideally a board-certified dermatologist doing or at least over seeing the treatments to decrease the risk of unwanted complications.  

-Clear + Brilliant: A great laser for beginners or for maintenance to treat brown and texture with minimal down time.  It’s effective and safe for darker skin tones and patients with melasma.  It requires 30 minutes of numbing prior to the treatment and after that you can expect a day of redness and a week of dryness and bronzing of the skin.  Personally, I like to do this two weeks before a big event to have extra bright and smooth skin.  
-Intense Pulsed Light (IPL): Ideal for redness (like broken blood vessels or rosacea) and brown spots (sun spots and freckles). It is not a good choice for darker skin tones or patients with melasma.  Post-treatment, expect a few days of swelling, redness and a coffee ground like peeling of brown spots as they slough off. Super exciting!
-Fractional Resurfacing such as Fraxel, Halo, Erbium, CO2 lasering: For those wanting significant improvement of skin including brown spots, texture, pore size, laxity and wrinkles, I use fractionation resurfacing.  This requires more downtime but also offers longer lasting results. These treatments require at least 1 hour of topical numbing and often laughing gas (nitrous gas) during the procedures. There are 7 days of recovery and for the first four days patients are red, crusty and very swollen.
 
6. Post-Treatment Care

After laser treatments, proper aftercare is essential to ensure the best results and minimize the risk of complications. My patients use the Doctor Rogers Essential and Heal collections to speed their recovery and improve their results.  In a clinical study, Restore Healing Balm outperformed Aquaphor in all measures of skin healing and was preferred by patients nine to one. Learn about post-procedure skin care here

7. Consistency is Key

Skincare is all about process and consistency. Whether you're using at-home products or seeking professional treatments, it's crucial to maintain a daily routine. Use your antioxidant serums and moisturizers in the morning, apply your treatments at night, and always wear sunscreen. These habits, built over time, will lead to smoother, brighter, and healthier skin.

By addressing sun damage now and maintaining good skin care practices year-round, you can keep your skin looking fresh and radiant well beyond the summer months.

 

These recommendations are not sponsored. They are the result of Dr. Heather D. Rogers, MD evidence-based research and extensive clinical experience. 

To learn more, sign-up HERE to receive weekly educational newsletters from our founder and dermatologist, Dr. Heather D. Rogers, MD.  

The information on doctorrogers.com and our social media channels, including articles, newsletters, videos, blogs and related links, are provided for general information and educational purposes only. There is no doctor-patient relationship implied and it is not a substitute for obtaining medical advice from your physician. Use of this information and recommended products on this site is at your own risk. Further, their use indicates your agreement with the Terms and Conditions of doctorrogers.com. There is no intent to diagnose or treat any specific medical problem through any of the information shared. Additionally, information shared here is not an extension of the medical care Dr. Rogers provides at her practice.

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