Excessive Sunscreen Protection Causes Woman to Break Bones by Rolling in Bed

A Chinese woman with severe vitamin D deficiency caused by excessive sunscreen use suffered a bone fracture just by rolling in her bed.

Doctors at the XinDu Traditional Medicine Hospital, in Chengdu, China, recently reported the unusual case of a 48-year-old local woman who had apparently suffered a bone fracture just by casually rolling in bed. According to Dr. Long Shuang, tests performed at the hospital showed that the unnamed woman’s vitamin D levels were extremely low, which had accelerated bone loss and caused the onset of severe osteoporosis. Further investigation revealed that the patient had avoided sunlight since childhood, rarely wearing short-sleeved shirts and always applying sunscreen when going outside. Her case was presented as a warning for other sunscreen enthusiasts who might be overusing it and thus affecting their bone health.

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“It is not uncommon to see people covering their entire body from head to toe to protect themselves from the sun. It is really unhealthy,” said Jiang Xiaobing, director of the Department of Orthopedic Spine Surgery at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. “All the bones in our body are renewed every 10 years, but from the age of 30, we start to lose bone mass at a rate of 0.5 to 1% per year. Low calcium intake, lack of sunlight exposure,e and vitamin D deficiency all hinder calcium absorption.”

Although sunscreen and sun protection in general have their merits, decreasing the risks of skin cancer and other serious health problems, some people overdo it and thus open themselves up to other issues. Because sunlight is so important in helping the body synthesize vitamin D, which in turn is essential for bone health and calcium absorption, avoiding exposure to sunlight for long periods of time can impair immunity and bone health.

The extreme case presented by Dr. Long Shuang went viral on Chinese social media, causing some to speculate that Chinese women’s desire for fair skin to fit social norms can lead to serious health problems.