“Sun damage”. When you hear the words, it tends to conjure up the image of dehydrated, leathery-looking skin, mottled with pigmentation. And yes, in an extreme case, that’s precisely how it can manifest. However, sun damage can also be insidious, affect your skin in ways that are much less obvious and become visible as early as your twenties. After all, 90% of all skin ageing is from the sun. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to experience a series of bad sunburns to suffer the consequences. Just the cumulative effects of going about your daily business without wearing sunscreen are all it takes to cause easily preventable premature ageing.
Happily, all is not lost. At Skin Renewal, we’re very experienced in treating sun damaged skin. So much so that we’ve created several in-office Pigmentation & Sun Damage Solutions. Each is a combination of treatments carefully paired to help target the various aspects of sun damage and enhance each other’s effects. Before we rejuvenate, however, you’ll want to know what you’re treating, which is why it’s good to know the signs of sun damage.
Know the signs
As we said, pigmentation might be the most obvious sign of sun damage, but it’s certainly not the only one. For example, did you know the ultraviolet (UV) rays can damage the walls of your capillaries? It causes them to break and creates a permanent redness that’s often mistaken for rosacea. Sun damage can also result in an impaired barrier function. This means the outermost layers of your skin that help trap moisture while keeping out irritants becomes damaged. Suddenly, your skin becomes dry and can’t seem to retain any hydration – regardless of how many times you moisturise it. Many might think they’d suddenly developed a sensitive skin but are suffering from sun damage.
Other ways in which sun damage can manifest include fine lines, wrinkles and a loss of firmness. This is because unprotected sun exposure degrades your body’s collagen and elastin supply. Many don’t realise it, but unprotected sun exposure can cause kinks in your DNA. Dermatologists refer to these as “dimers” and, if left unchecked, may mutate in a way that leads to skin cancer!
The time to repair is now
Many people think of sun damage as being a case of “when the damage is done, it’s done.” The thing is, at Skin Renewal, we know it’s never too late to address the signs of sun damage. Obviously, the sooner you take action, the better. But we’ve gotten excellent results in even the seemingly most severe cases. We realise that sun damage is a complex condition, and because of this, it requires multiple and varied treatments to target it from all directions. It’s our 3D approach that inspired our incredibly effective in-office Pigmentation & Sun Damage Solutions.
After assessing your skin’s condition and considering the severity of your sun damage, one of our doctor’s will be able to suggest a treatment path that’ll deliver the best results.
For example, if you have mild sun damage, you’ll benefit from our Starter Pigmentation & Sun Damage Solution. It includes applying a SAMA peel that improves the look of pigmentation, fine lines and texture.
If, however, your situation is a bit more serious, you might be a good candidate for our Advanced Plus Pigmentation & Sun Damage Solution. It also involves a SAMA peel, but you’ll also benefit from a Laser Genesis treatment that will encourage your skin to produce more collagen, improve its texture and reduce the look of pigmentation.
We offer several lasers i.e Limelight and peels that can tackle sun damage, but additional treatments like carboxytherapy, mesotherapy and dermal fillers help to get the best results possible. (The latter does a great job of restoring lost volume and filling deeper, more ingrained wrinkles.)
The last word
Ultimately, sun damage is a complex condition that requires several treatments, not just one, to target all its visible signs effectively. Trust Skin Renewal to help you create a custom rejuvenation plan, and 2021 can be the year you enjoy a more youthful-looking, evenly-toned and radiant complexion. In the meantime, if you’ve yet to make a new year’s resolution, make it to wear sunscreen. Your future skin will thank you for it – we promise!