Almost all of us fight the problem of photo aging. So we all need to take extra care of skin for preventing photo aging. At the same time sun aging and wrinkles also need to be handled properly.
It is true that the sun makes us feel good but another truth is that the
solar radiation is one of the most injurious environmental agents our skin ever encounters. It is a popular belief that the sunlight is enemy number one to the human skin and this belief is not without reason because most of the withered, discoloured appearance of old skin is not always due to normal or intrinsic aging processes.
In fact most of the time it is because of the decades of burning, tanning and exposure to the
sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. The truth is that the Ultraviolet
skin damage or ’
photo aging’ accounts for 90-95 per cent of the cosmetic skin blemishes as well as wrinkling.
However, if you get a chance to closely
observe a habitually tanned person’s arms, legs or face, you may find that it reveals a mass of brown spots, mottled patches, horny bumps, finely etched lines, scaly plaques, rough (premalignant) keratoses, enlarged blood vessels and perhaps small cancerous growths.
Damage To The Skin From Sun
- No doubt these unappealing changes on the human skin result chiefly from excessive sun exposure.
- One can easily differenciate between the sun-induced photoaging and the natural cellular aging.
- You will always find that even in elderly people, the skin area that is not exposed to the sun (for example on the belly and buttocks) usually has a fine and soft texture in contrast to the sun-weathered parts.
- In the ancients times people had a more prudent attitude towards the sun because they had recognized the importance of warmth and light of the sun for the human life.
- But at the same time they were also aware of shielding themselves from the piercing rays of the sun.
- However, in the modern times the sun and sports lovers not only bake in the harmful ultraviolet radiation but also travel miles to soak it up.
- You should always remember that the ultraviolet rays of the sun injure the human skin because the sunlight is intense electromagnetic radiation.
- The UVB band or the ’sunburn spectrum’ is the main cause of sunburn and tanning of the skin.
- The UVA rays, which were formerly considered harmless, are now also known to cause photoaging and wrinkles because they penetrate deep into the skin layers.
- The cumulative sun exposure causes premature aging, wrinkling and even skin cancer.
Preventing Photodamage And Skin-Aging
- Since the wrinkling and the skin-aging is one of the natural consequences of the aging process therefore nothing much can be done to prevent the general sagging and creasing of skin with increasing age.
- But still the skin photoaging can and should be prevented, not only for cosmetic reasons but also for the better health that is to reduce the chances of getting skin cancer.
- The dermatological advice is you should simply avoid exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays as much as possible.
- According to a study about 80% of Ultraviolet photodamage to the skin occurs in the first two decades of life. Therefore the children should be told about sun-protection from the childhood.
- Even the older adults can reduce sun exposure. This will help them not only in preventing further damage to the skin but also in reversing the damage already done.
Try These Tricks
- You should try to cover the exposed areas of the body with sunscreens of SPF (sun-protection factor) No 15.
- You should wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts.
- You should protect the eyes with dark Ultraviolet-resistant glasses.
- You should protect the face and head with a wide-brimmed hat.
- You should try to avoid exposure to the sun’s strongest rays that is between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
