When summer comes, noticeably more people visit a Hongdae dermatology clinic with skin problems.

"My skin goes haywire every summer."

"I'm oilier, but my skin still feels tight."

"My makeup won't sit, and my face stays red."

Even in the same summer, the symptoms differ from person to person.

Some people break out badly,

some get dry skin,

and some find even their usual cosmetics stinging.

So many people think, "It's summer, so this is normal." But skin doesn't become sensitive just because it's hot.

Today I'll talk about the signals summer skin sends and why skin becomes more sensitive in summer.

Why does skin become more sensitive in summer?

The main reason skin gets sensitive in summer is that strong UV, high temperature and humidity, and repeated air-conditioned environments all act on the skin barrier at once.

Many people assume summer is humid, so skin must be moist too.

In reality it is often the opposite.

Outdoors, your skin is exposed to hot sun and UV all the time. Indoors, air conditioning makes moisture in the skin evaporate quickly.

On top of that, sweat and sebum increase, so the skin keeps being irritated.

As a result, the skin sometimes produces more sebum to protect itself, while the barrier weakens and the skin turns red and stings easily even from slight irritation.

So summer skin trouble is not simply "the skin got hot." It is the result of several environmental changes burdening the skin together.

Why does sebum increase in summer?

Sebum is the "natural protective film" the body makes to protect the skin.

This is a question I hear every summer in the clinic.

"Doctor, my face gets so shiny every summer."

Sebum is not actually a bad thing.

It acts as a natural protective film that protects the skin and keeps moisture from escaping.

In summer, as air temperature and skin temperature rise, the body naturally increases sebum secretion to protect the skin.

The problem starts here.

When people feel they have more sebum, many wash their face more often or use cleansers with strong cleansing power.

But when the skin's protective film is washed away too, the skin tries to secrete even more sebum to make up for it.

In the end, a vicious cycle can repeat: you wash diligently because of the oil, and end up shinier.

One more thing I'd like you to remember: lots of sebum does not mean the inside of the skin is moist.

Strong UV and air conditioning keep drawing moisture out of the skin, so it is common to see a shiny surface together with "inner dryness," where the inside feels tight.

How does UV affect skin?

Many people think UV only causes melasma, but UV also affects skin aging and the skin barrier.

Strong UV can reduce collagen in the skin and weaken its protective function.

That is why, after summer, many people say their skin elasticity has dropped, or that their skin reddens and becomes sensitive more easily than usual.

If your skin has felt hot or dry after long hours outdoors, it may be a sign that it needs time to recover from UV.

What kind of care helps summer skin?

In summer, creating an environment where the skin can recover on its own matters more than pushing skin care too hard.

Rather than washing your face too often, I recommend gentle cleansing that protects the skin barrier.

Don't skip moisturizer just because you have a lot of sebum. It's better to keep using a light moisturizer that suits your current skin condition.

Apply enough sunscreen before going out, and reapply it during long outdoor activity.

If a sense of heat lasts a long time or redness doesn't settle easily, soothing care such as LDM may help restore skin condition.

If you worry about both lack of moisture inside the skin and declining elasticity, you can consider a skin booster like Re2O, which improves the skin's regenerative environment and helps produce collagen.

If UV has dulled your skin tone or you worry about pigmentation, it is also a good approach to check your skin condition thoroughly and then combine pigment treatment such as toning laser.

What matters is that the care your skin needs changes with the season.

What does Hongdae dermatology check first in summer skin?

Summer skin worries don't all have the same cause.

For some people, the cause is a weakened skin barrier,

for others, irritation from UV,

and for others, sebum and pore problems may be the larger cause.

So in consultation, I place the most importance on finding out why the skin became sensitive, before recommending treatment.

That's because choosing care that fits after diagnosing the skin condition accurately is more likely to lead to a satisfying result.

For summer skin, "skin that recovers" matters more than "skin that endures"

Overseas, as interest in summer skin care in hot weather and in Korean anti-aging grows, the number of people visiting Korean beauty clinics keeps rising.

Korean beauty clinics in particular are known as clinics that value restoring the skin's own health and balance over simply making skin look good.

What I value most in my own practice is creating an environment in which the skin can become healthy by itself.

Good skin isn't made in a day.

Skin changes little by little in a healthy direction when lifestyle habits and skin care suited to the season are joined by appropriate treatment at the right time.

If you are looking for a Hongdae dermatology clinic because of summer skin worries, I recommend first finding out what care suits your skin right now, instead of following what the internet recommends as it is.

Today we talked about why summer skin becomes sensitive easily.

Next time too, I'll go through the questions I get most in the clinic, one by one, in an easy and fun way.

Have a happy day today!

That's all from Dr.OH YOUNG JU.