We hear this question a lot from women, as you might imagine. More elaborately, the question goes something like this:
“My husband is notoriously bad about wearing sunscreen. Any ideas on how to encourage him to protect his skin better?”
Unfortunately, men as a group seem to have difficult time with sunscreen compliance. In a 2023 US sunscreen use survey, only 14% of men stated that they always use sunscreen, 27% reported that they never use sunscreen, and the remainder (59%) only using sunscreen some of the time.
Men do seem to get away with avoiding sunscreen early in their lives as their skin is thicker and has more collagen density than women. However, with age comes reduction in collagen over time.
By age 50 and above, men tend to show much more sun damage than women. Unfortunately but predictably, men also tend to have much higher skin cancer rates than women as well.
We at Maine Laser Skin Care generally recommend a tip that Dr. Burke himself uses daily: Keep the sunscreen in the bathroom near the toothbrush and razor that your husband uses daily in the morning. After showering and shaving, this simple and subtle reminder will help him get in the habit of applying sunscreen before he leaves the house for the day.