Sun Damage

A dried out and darkened skin is the most common sun damage that we see but there are other changes too which affect the skin in the long run. A list of the various sun damage types is given below:

• Dry Skin: Constant sun exposure evaporates the skin’s moisture and if the same keeps getting repeated over a period of time, it may result in dry flaky skin which looked aged
• Sunburn: The pigmentation patches on the skin or the reddened skin- both come under the category of sunburn. Based on the skin’s characteristics, some people experience temporary melanin deposition while others may experience near permanent skin darkening. Sunburn is mainly caused by the harmful UV and infrared rays
• Actinic Keratosis: A tiny bump on the skin that looks like a small scaly patch either pink, red, yellow or brown in color depending upon the skin type. Actinic keratosis develops in people who have had prolonged exposure to the sun’s UV rays and it can be a warning sign for increased risk of developing skin cancer. About 10% to 15% of actinic keratoses eventually change into squamous cell cancers of the skin.
• Changes in Skin Collagen: These include photoaging and actinic purpura. While photoaging is the premature aging of the skin, actinic purpura is defined as the bleeding of blood vessels beneath the skin surface. The changes in skin collagen, esp. Actinic purpura makes the blood vessels even more fragile and vulnerable to being ruptured at older ages.