Sun Damaged Skin: Sun Damage Signs, Causes & Treatments

Sun damage is a serious problem. It is true that regular exposure to the sun’s rays is necessary for our health. However, too much of it can be catastrophic for our skin. Especially with today’s environmental situation.

Unfortunately, we have neglected taking care of the environment that our ozone layer is already depleted. The ultraviolet rays from the sun are now too strong for us. Spending too much time outdoors might lead to irreversible damage to your skin.

The repeated exposure to the sun’s rays can take its toll on our skin. This is the reason why you need to protect your skin before going out. In fact, the lighter the skin color, the greater risk there is to skin damage caused by too much exposure to the sun. The heat tends to dry out our unprotected skin and it can deplete the natural oil. When this happens, it can change the structure of your skin and lead to all sorts of illnesses and skin conditions.

What are the signs of sun damage?

There are a couple of signs of sun damage that you need to be on the lookout for. It is important to get to know them so you will know that you have to set serious about protecting your skin.

Dry skin

This is probably the first sign of sun damage. When you are exposed to the rays of the sun, it can make your skin lose its natural moisture and the oils produced by your glands. This makes your skin appear flaky. It can lead to premature aging. But since we get dry skin from all sorts of reasons, it is also the most underestimated one. We tend to shrug it off and just think that we simply need to put more lotion. While it can help, it will take more than just moisturizing your skin to start reversing the sun damage.

Sunburn

After dry skin, if you do not do something to reverse the effects, your skin might suffer from sunburn. This is actually considered a skin injury already. When your skin is exposed to too much UV radiation, it will appear different and will also cause you pain. A sunburn has different levels. A mild sunburn will make your skin turn painfully red. Severe cases of sunburn will result in painful blisters or small vesicles (fluid-filled bumps). This takes longer to heal and will involve peeling. The most severe the burn, the more painful the healing process will be.

Actinic Keratosis

If you start to feel like your skin has a tiny bump (or bumps) that feels a bit like sandpaper, then your skin has gone through a more serious sun damage than you let on. Once your skin starts having scaly patches of pink, yellow, red or brown tint, then you need to get professional help to help your skin. This is caused by repeated and lengthy exposure to the UV rays of the sun. This condition is not like a sunburn that goes away after some peeling. It has to be either frozen or chemically treated by a physician. If you do not do anything about this, it could lead to skin cancer. The fact that you have it already means you are at a high-risk of having 10% to 15% of the actinic keratosis change into cancer cells.

If you are showing any of these signs of sun damage, you have to act fast. You need to make sure that it will not get worse. It is not just your appearance and self-confidence that will

How to prevent sun damage before it happens

Prevention is always better than the cure. This is the best way to deal with sun damage.

Fortunately, there are many ways to prevent sun damage before it happens to your skin. Most of them will have to be done repeatedly. However, they are mostly small and seemingly insignificant acts that can save your skin from so much damage. Here are some of the tips that you can do.

Always use sunscreen

It does not matter if you will outside for a few minutes or the whole day. This product should be applied on your skin every day – just like your regular lotion. Make sure you choose the right sunscreen based on your skin type. Just make sure that it has an SPF 30 or above and can protect against both UV-A and UV-B rays of the sun. Depending on what you have, you may be required to apply this more than once.

Apply sunblock on your lips

Do not forget your lips. It is on your face so you can expect that it will be highly exposed to the rays of the sun. There are products that you can apply on your lips to protect it. Go for the products that offer SPF 20 or higher.

Limit your exposure to the sun

If you have to go outside, try to limit is as much as possible. Not only that, you need to know the time when it is safe to go outdoors. In the US, it is not advisable to stay outside for a long time from 10 am to 3 pm. That is when the sun will be at its peak.

Protect yourself

If you have to be outside during the time when the sun is high and hot, you need to make sure that you are wearing sunglasses with UV protection. Long sleeves and a long pants are also a good idea.

Be informed

Finally, you have to do your research to know how you can really protect yourself against sun damage. For instance, there are medications that will make your skin more sensitive to the harmful rays of the sun. The more your know, the easier it will be to protect yourself against the damages that can be caused by too much exposure to the sun’s rays.

How to get rid of signs of sun damage before it worsens

So just in case, you are already suffering the signs of damage, what can you do about it? How can you get rid of signs of sun damage before it worsens?

You go and get yourself a Gold Elements product.

First of all, you have to exfoliate your skin to get rid of the dead skin cells that have suffered sun damage. You can try the Intensive Multi-Task Facial Cleanser that gently exfoliates your skin without being too harsh.

You should also use a moisturizer to try and replace what the sun took from your skin. The Intensive Cleaning and Softening Lotion should do the trick.

Nourishing your skin is also a good idea. It will help revitalize and rejuvenate your skin after all the beating it got from the harmful rays of the sun. What better way to this than to use the Aurarius Advanced Truffles Collection?

Give yourself a treat and pamper your skin with the luxurious gold-infused beauty products from the Gold Elements line.