Dr Toni writes:
A suntan is always bad news - whether you get it from lying on the beach, from a tanning salon, or through incidental daily sun exposure.
The cumulative damage caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation, regardless of its source, leads to premature ageing resulting in wrinkles, lax skin, sun spots, pigmentation and even skin cancer.
Tans are caused by harmful UV radiation from the sun or tanning lamps, which cause the pigmentary cells in your skin to rapidly increase pigment production.
This reaction is your clever pigmentary cells trying to protect the DNA in our skin cells. If you have a tan, it simply indicates that you have sustained skin cell damage.
Even once your tan has faded, the damage created by getting it remains. Fortunately, there are treatments that can help to remove, reduce and even reverse some of these visible signs of damage.
This month we discuss the treatment options for sun damaged skin on the face as well as the body.