Know What Sun Damage Is, And How To Prevent It
Spending time in the sun can feel good, but the sun is a fickle friend, and can easily take a toll on our skin. That’s because our glorious source of warmth can give off ultraviolet (UV) light, which can damage skin and cause sunburn. The damage can add years to your looks, and research has shown that excessive exposure to UV light is behind over 80% of the aging of your skin.
With time, these harmful rays can bring about wrinkles, dark spots, and worse. Some signs of developing sun damage include uneven pigmentation, melasma (brown or grey patches of skin), freckles, moles, fine lines, skin laxity, spider veins. Even tanning—gorgeous and bronzed as it may make you feel—can be a precursor to more intensive damage.
Now That You Know About Sun Damage… How Do You Prevent It?
So, how can you turn back the clock on sun damage? Well, there are experts shedding light on ways that you can reverse some problems caused by excess sun exposure. While it’s not possible to undo all the damage, there are things you can do to mitigate the effects. Here are some common conditions that arise from sun damage and ways to prevent or treat them:
Sunburn
If you get sunburned, the harm to your skin is already done by the time it turns pink and painful. Sunburns happen because UV rays have damaged the DNA in your skin cells. When the injuries to your skin cells build up over time, they can lead to premature aging of the skin in the form of wrinkles and even skin cancer.
Relieving the pain of sunburns is quite easy with a lot of topical treatments available. But to prevent and counteract skin damage before it’s there permanently, wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen and reapply it every 80 minutes at least. And don’t continue to lay out in the sun for hours. Seek out and stick to the shade to protect yourself from future UV radiation. It will give the enzymes in your skin time to repair some of the DNA that’s been damaged.
Dry Skin
Rough spots that appear can be caused by parching from the sun, leaving you with quasi-reptilian-looking patches of chafed skin. But there are ways you can prevent and even get rid of the rough stuff. Using a scrub or loofah to give your skin some gentle exfoliation will remove the top layer of dead skin cells and reveal softer skin underneath. Next, use a good moisturizing lotion such as Aristocrat’s Advanced Prescriptive Skincare (APS) Ultra C Complex. If your skin has become sunburned, do not use petroleum-based products, which can trap heat, and remember to stay very hydrated throughout the day.
Wrinkles
Harmful UV rays can affect the collagen and elastin of your skin by breaking them down. These two proteins are essential for keeping your skin firm and smooth. You can treat wrinkles and iron them out by using these two methods:
- Put more beta-carotene in your diet. This antioxidant can help make your skin more supple and flexible, as well as reduce sun-associated wrinkles. And it’s easy to get more beta-carotene by eating more fruits and vegetables such as carrots, spinach, and cantaloupe. You can also get beta-carotene in a supplement.
- Use a cream or serum with retinoids. These compounds can help increase the amount of collagen in your skin and can be prescribed by a dermatologist. Some retinoid creams or serums include tretinoin (Renova, Retin-A), or are found in less potent forms such as retinol, sold in over-the-counter products. These products can help smooth out fine lines and fade dark spots to make pores look smaller.
You should use the product at night as sunlight exposure can make the retinoids inactive, and you should gradually work them into your skincare regimen because they can irritate the skin if applied too often or suddenly. Start with applying the product every third night in the beginning and work up to nightly applications.
Use a cream that contains antioxidants like vitamin C, coffee berry extract, or green tea. These antioxidants help defend the skin’s collagen and elastin stores against damage from the sun.
- Get a chemical peel treatment. This can remove damaged cells from the upper layers of skin. Treatment options can range from alpha-hydroxy or salicylic acid creams that you can apply yourself, or medium skin-depth peels that you can get from Aristocrat.
- Skin rejuvenation through microdermabrasion. In this treatment, tiny grains, crystals, or diamond tips are used to remove the skin’s outer layer. Microdermabrasion can also stimulate collagen growth.
- Reveal fresh, new skin with laser therapy. Using short pulses of concentrated light, laser therapy removes specific layers or areas of skin to uncover new skin. Different types of laser therapy include CO2 and erbium laser resurfacing.
Sun and Age Spots
The dark spots that appear on the skin are also known as liver spots or solar lentigines. These spots are caused by melanin, a chemical that actually defends against UV rays. However, too much sun can make clumps of melanin form which, while helping to protect your skin, creates a dark blemish to appear. You can fight this form of sun damage by using:
- Skin-lightening creams. These products contain hydroquinone that can lighten skin. Kojic and glycolic acids are ingredients that can also help remove brown or black spots.
- Retinoid compounds. These speed up the turning over and shedding of pigmented cells, along with smoothing wrinkles.
- Liquid nitrogen freezes via cryotherapy. This treatment freezes the area so that it can peel away.
Melasma
These splotchy brown or grey patches affect over 6 million Americans. Skincare experts are uncertain of the exact reason melasma appears, but they do know that excessive sun exposure can send melanin into overdrive, which creates spots on the skin.
Melasma can be reversed with many treatments that are effective on age spots, like skin-lightening creams. A study found that hydroquinone, kojic acid, and glycolic acid were all effective in reducing skin splotches. Other optional treatments include chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and laser therapy.
But what’s more important is that avoiding the sun and applying broad-spectrum sunscreens liberally to your skin that provide protection against UVA, UVB, and visible light is the most effective treatment for melasma.
Actinic Keratosis (AK)
These scaly, crusty patches that form on the skin are also known by the name solar keratoses, and they’re a form of sun damage. The danger lies in the fact that they can create a bigger problem. Without treatment, up to 10% of solar keratoses conditions might turn into skin cancer.
What Else Can You Do?
With sun damage, you always need to be on the lookout for new or changing marks on your skin. As soon as you notice anything that looks new or different, have it checked out by a dermatologist to rule out any sign of skin cancer. But you also need to be sun-savvy and practice sun-safe habits:
- Avoid sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
- Wear protective clothing and a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 at minimum.
- All exposed skin should be covered with a thick layer of sunscreen when you’re out and after swimming and sweating. Reapply it every 80 minutes for maximum protection.
Get More Sleep
Overnight is when your skin does the most repair work, when it makes new cells and mends or sheds old, damaged cells. It’s also the time when you get the most out of any creams or lotions you apply before turning in. At night, your skin gets warmer, which can aid in deeper absorption of the products you use and produce faster results.
Try to get at least 7 hours of good, sound sleep a night. One study showed that women who get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep looked younger, had better-hydrated skin, and were more satisfied with their looks than those who only got about 5 hours of sleep.
Start A Nutrition Tradition
By eating healthier and including more vegetables, olive oil, fish, and beans in your diet, you can minimize the development of wrinkles. Similar results occurred for women who had diets high in vitamin C which included citrus fruits, broccoli, strawberries, and leafy greens. And did you know that vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds contain a nutrient and fatty acid called linoleic acid, which can moisturize skin?
You can also get antioxidants that will provide UV protection that works from the inside out in foods such as tomatoes for lycopene, green tea for polyphenols, and cocoa for flavonoids. So the less butter, meat, dairy, and sugar you have in your diet, the more successful your skin health.
Get A Move On
By boosting your heart rate and increasing your blood flow, your body can flip the script on skin aging by supplying more nutrients to the cells that can repair the damage. Sweating it out in a steam room can also give your skin more tautness and tone. Researchers say that people who got at least 3 hours of activity a week had a similar skin tone and tautness in their 40s as people in their 20s and 30s—even in subjects as old as 65. And the added benefit of exercise is that with a healthy weight, your skin’s support structure is strong, which can help prevent sagging.
See What’s New Under The Sun at Aristocrat!
In our New York City MedAesthetics office, we offer a fully integrated aesthetic surgery office and medical spa to attend to all your skincare needs. The combined experience of Dr. Kevin Tehrani, the nursing staff, and medical estheticians will determine the most appropriate treatment plan for your skin concerns, to create the healthiest and most beautiful you.
Come in for a consultation and a long-term strategy designed to keep your skin in the best condition possible. Call us today!