Health Debunked: Can the Sun Help Clear Acne?

The sun has many merits: It helps your body make vitamin D, may contribute to alertness and better sleep, and can boost your mood. But does it help with acne? While the sun may temporarily improve your skin’s appearance, experts say that it can ultimately make acne worse and create other skin issues. 

What is acne?

Acne is an inflammatory skin condition that develops when hair follicles get clogged with oil (sebum) and/or dead skin cells. This mixture of oils and cells gives bacteria that normally live on the skin an opportunity to grow, which can cause inflammation — or redness, swelling, and the lesions we call “pimples.”

Board-certified dermatologist Anna H. Chacon, M.D. explains further: “Acne is caused by the bacteria Propionibacterium acnes, a natural [inhabitant] of the human skin microbiome. When this bacterium has its natural environment disturbed, this manifests as the opportunistic infection that we know as acne.” 

Chacon adds that some of the most common things that can disturb the skin microbiome are too much oil, injury, trauma, and physiologic changes from things like stress, hormones, and/or medication.

Claim: The sun helps clear up acne

Many people believe that the sun can help clear up acne, but experts (and a handful of studies) say that’s not quite how it works.

Why do people think the sun helps acne?

No one knows for sure where the idea came from, but Chacon hypothesizes that there are likely a couple reasons that people think the sun helps acne:

• The sun dries out the skin, which can temporarily improve the appearance of acne.

• Blue-light therapy, which is FDA approved and often recommended by dermatologists, has been shown to improve mild to moderate acne.

What does the science say?

There’s a limited amount of research on the direct effects of the sun on acne. One systematic review published in Family Practice rounded up the limited studies that do exist and found no evidence that natural sunlight improves acne.

There is some evidence that light therapy — or exposure to specific wavelengths of light — may help, but this is not the same thing as exposing your skin to the broad spectrum of light that comes from the sun.

What do the experts say?

Experts tend to agree that sun exposure may initially improve the appearance of acne by drying out sebum. Plus, when your skin is tanned, pimples and acne marks may look less noticeable. But these effects are short lived. In fact, the drying effect of sun exposure can ultimately make acne worse.

“Sun exposure causes the top layer of the skin, the epidermis, to become dry and thick, resulting in the body creating even more oil to compensate for what was lost,” says Chacon. That’s because the drying effect from the sun is different from the drying that you get from topical acne medications.

For example, tretinoin, a common acne medication, dries out the skin by speeding up skin cell turnover. In other words, it increases the rate at which your body produces new skin cells. This can help dry out and get rid of acne over time.

On the other hand, the sun directly dries out the oil on your skin. This may temporarily improve the way your skin looks and make acne less obvious. However, you’ll likely end up producing more oil than before, which translates to a higher chance of acne getting worse (and a higher chance of other skin issues). 

“This cycle perpetuates the original problem, but now, you’ve added potential damage from UVA and UVB rays, like scarring, hyperpigmentation/tan, premature aging, and wrinkles,” says Chacon. And according to the American Academy of Dermatology, the sun’s ultraviolet rays can darken acne and make it last longer.

The best way to clear up persistent acne is with the help of medications, both prescription and over the counter, and proper skin care.

So should you try it? 

While the sun may temporarily improve the appearance of acne, it can end up making things worse and creating other unwanted effects, like hyperpigmentation, scarring, and premature aging. Rather than relying on the sun to clear up acne, check in with a dermatologist who can help you find an appropriate treatment plan for you.

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Written by:

Lindsay Boyers, CHNC

Lindsay Boyers, CHNC, is a functional nutritionist, licensed esthetician, writer, and editor with over a decade of experience in evidence-based health, wellness, and skincare writing.

Edited by:

Kelsey Abkin

Kelsey Abkin has been working as a journalist since 2016. She has held many titles throughout her career, including editor, content strategist, digital strategist, and writer.

Reviewed by:

Sanjai Sinha, MD

Sanjai Sinha, MD, is a board-certified physician with over 20 years of experience. He specializes in internal medicine.

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