The Sun and Your Skin

Excessive Unprotected Sun Exposure

Harmful rays from the sun in ever increasing amounts cause damage to skin and hamper your skin's ability to repair the damage. Over a period of time, exposure to ultraviolet rays results in changes to the skin (freckles, age spots, rough skin). An even graver symptom would be the onset of skin cancer.

Dermatologists call this effect photo aging in reference to the suns rays that reduce the production of collagen responsible for maintaining the skins elasticity.

Your dermatologist can perform a simple painless test to show you where and how significant the damage is. Do not confuse over-exposure to ultra-violet light with the necessary time you must spend in the sun to produce Vitamin D.

Your susceptibility to photo aging is determined by the amount of pigment in the skin as well as the frequency and duration you spend under the suns rays. Given these factors, fair-skinned individuals and those who spend long periods under the sun tend to have more pronounced effects of photo aging compared to those who are darker-skinned and spend more time in the shade.

But over-exposure to UV light can cause serious skin problems to any shade of skin.

You need to routinely put on sun screen if you are going to work in the yard, swim or know that you will be outside for an extended period of time.

However, more damage is done from driving your car to and from work - because you don't wear sun screen every time you leave the house. And when you do use sun screen, you don't reapply it on a regular basis, leaving your skin unprotected as you swim or sweat the sun screen away.

Your skin needs only 15 minutes a day of sunlight to maintain Vitamin D. All the rest of the time, you need Sun Screen. You might also adopt the habits of our great grandmothers - gloves and a hat or umbrella.

Don't forget those sun glasses. Wear them every time you go outside. Those squint lines will be etched forever in your face and that frown will be permanent. Your eyes will last longer with a little protection as well.

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