Protecting Yourself From the Sun
While you might think that a golden, tanned glow imparts a sense of healthy skin, this is a fallacy. Our skin produces a tan as a response to the damaging rays of the sun. Thus, it is a good idea to think about minimizing your sun exposure to help keep your skin healthy.
How the Sun Affects Your Skin
Sunlight is made up of ultraviolet rays that penetrate our skin, leading to DNA mutations. These problems with our genetic coding are what lead to sunburn, wrinkles, skin cancer, freckles, and age spots. As several of these factors are the components of skin aging, exposure to the sun can lead to premature skin aging, depriving you of your smooth, youthful skin.
Ways to Protect Yourself
When you are out in the sun for more than about 15 minutes, sun damage starts to occur. Therefore, if you know that you are going to be in the sun for more than that, it is a good idea to wear sun protection. The first thing that most people think of when they hear sun protection is sunscreen.
Sunscreen utilizes physical and/or chemical blocks to keep the ultraviolet rays from penetrating into your skin. You can get sunscreen in a variety of different protection levels based on your skin type and how long you will be outdoors.
For women, many makeup companies are now adding sun protection factors to their makeup. While this is a good extra protection to have, many of them do not offer high enough protection levels to truly block sunlight from soaking into your skin. You should double-check your makeup SPF before you rely solely on that to protect you.
Lastly, men, women, and children alike can all benefit from wearing sun protective clothing. Not all clothes block the sun’s rays, so several clothing companies now offer specially designed attire to help keep your skin protected.
Contact Us
Although protecting yourself from the sunlight is a huge step towards keeping your skin looking young, you can’t avoid the normal wear and tear of age. Thankfully, there are a number of ways that you can treat your wrinkles and areas of hyperpigmentation. For more information on these treatments, contact Austin facial plastic surgeon Dr. Apostolakis today at 512-329-8989.