Comparison of the impact of environmental stress on male and female skin.

ABSTRACT

Past research on understanding gender differences of skin biology and its response to environmental insults has focused on morphological and gross physiological comparisons. In general it has been found that male skin has a greater susceptibility to being negatively impacted by environmental stressors, in particular ultraviolet radiation. These noted differences in response to environmental insults are probably due to a combination of underlying biologically based differences and variable sun-protection and skin-care product usage between genders. Overall, published data support the hypothesis that male facial skin undergoes significant challenges from environmental insults that lead to a more damaged condition compared with female skin. These changes occur both from acute insults and from the impact of cumulative chronic exposure. Appropriate sun protection should be viewed as an important step in male skin care and grooming habits.