Treatment for Sun Damaged Skin
Exposure to UV rays is not good and the effects on our skin are damaging.
Treatment for Sun Damaged Skin Essentials
Causes: Exposure to direct and indirect sunlight and UVA and UVB rays
Where it occurs: Anywhere that has been exposed unprotected to UVA/UVB rays
Why it's an issue: Sun damage affects the integrity of your skin from an aesthetic point of view, structural point of view, and chemical point of view. The latter can lead to cancer.
Treatment: There are a number of approaches but most prevention is better than treatment as the saying goes.
Unless you’ve never been in the sun, it is highly likely that your skin has some degree of sun damage. The ultraviolet radiation of the sun’s light can burn and cause long term damage to the structure of your skin, even penetrating skin cells and damaging their DNA.
What is sun damaged skin?
Put simply, sun damaged skin is any skin that exhibits symptoms related to exposure to ultraviolet rays. These include –
Dry Skin | Moisture and oil lacking skin due to the drying effects of the sun’s light – this gives it a flaky or wrinkled appearance. |
Sun Burnt Skin | Reddened skin due to overexposure. Often peeling results. In more severe cases blistering may occur. |
Actinic Keratosis | Small sandpaper like bumps which will not resolve on their own and require medical attention with freezing agents. |
Sunspots | Also called liver spots or solar lentigines, these pigmented spots appear on skin most exposed to the sun or UV rays. |
Lines and Wrinkles | Long term exposure to damaging sun rays can cause photoaging, result in broken blood vessels and cause damage to the structure of collagen in the skin leading to lines and wrinkles. |
The more exposed we allow ourselves to be to the sun, the higher the chances of squamous cell cancers of the skin developing. No one wants this.
What causes sun damaged skin?
It may seem like a silly question, but some people believe that simply applying a sunscreen is enough when it’s not. UV rays regardless of the source should be avoided.
How can I treat sun damaged skin?
This depends on the symptoms you’re most concerned with and the extent of the damage. This can be determined at a consultation with one of our skin health specialists. The following are guidelines –
| Dry Skin | Hydrafacial ZO Skin Health | A hydrafacial and inspection of your daily skin care practices to ensure you’re giving your skin what it needs to maintain a good water lipid barrier function. |
| Pigmentation Issues (including sun spots) | ZO Stimulator Peel Hydrafacial Melanin products and blenders | A stimulator peel is a good starting point. From there some light resurfacing treatments like a course of hydrafacial will help. A range of melanin focused ZO Skin Health products to rebalance your melanin levels and blend pigments is advised in more severe cases. |
| Lines and Wrinkles | Hydrafacial Rejuvapen Facial Injectables | This depends on the severity of the problem. Light and fine lines and wrinkles may be addressed with Rejuvapen. In more severe cases anti-wrinkle injections or dermal fillers may be appropriate. To prepare the skin for these measures, a Hydrafacial is recommended. |
Is prevention better than a cure?
Yes. There is no doubt about it. We all know complete avoidance of direct sunlight is impossible, even unhealthy, but all provisions should be made to try our best to limit our UV exposure. The “Slip, Slop, Slap” advertisements in Australia in the early 1980’s are the perfect example of a public health campaign that worked remarkably well. Slip on some cover, slop on sunscreen and slap on a hat. Simple but effective.