Health and Beauty Advice

While the baby oil beach days may have felt amazing and your neighbor states that it’s a good idea to visit the tanning booth before going on vacation in Maui, sun damage is no joke. Unprotected sun exposure leads to lines and wrinkles, age spots, dryness, skin discoloration and possibly even cancer. Over time, the UV rays from the sun destroy our skin’s elastin. When these fibers break down, the skin will begin to sag, stretch and lose elasticity. The next thing you know, you’re barely 40 and getting face lifts, collagen injections and wrinkle treatments to heal your damaged skin. The saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is especially true when it comes to sensible skin solutions.

Sun damage isn’t just manifested in sunburns or blisters. There are other effects that are more subtle but just as dangerous in the long run. For instance, deep wrinkles, dryness, freckles, mottled pigmentation and skin transparency are a few symptoms of sun damage. A yellow discoloration, known as “sallowness”, Telagiectasias, known as the dilation of small blood vessels beneath the skin, or Elastosis, known as the damaging of the elastic tissue that causes lines and wrinkles are telltale signs that skin solutions should be sought. Worst case scenario, pre-cancerous lesions appear as a result of the skin’s diminished immune function, which may also lead to full-blown cancer.

Though breast cancer and lung cancer get all the media publicity, skin cancer caused by sun damage is the most predominant. There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. Ninety-five percent of all skin cancers are the basal cell and squamous cell types. Luckily, they are less serious and are very treatable if detected early. Seventy-five percent of all skin cancer deaths are a result of melanoma, which occurs when abnormal pigment cells (melanocytes) grow uncontrollably. What may start as skin cancer can spread to other organs and manifest itself as all sorts of cancerous mutations.

Sun damage that is detected early and is not fatal can be treated by scraping, freezing, lasering or cutting out the injured tissue, allowing nature to take its course and rejuvenate. For melanoma skin cancer, there is wide surgical excisions, sentinel lymph node mapping, biological response modifiers and radiation therapy. Of course, the best cure is prevention, so applying sunscreen liberally every couple hours with an SPF of 15 or higher is a good idea.

What should I be doing?

To minimize the risk of sun damage you should formulate a summer skincare plan in warm weather for both you and your kids. Its a good idea to get yourself familiar with an introduction to sun protection and skin care products in general.

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