Can You Reverse Skin Sun Damage? (And What Is It?)

Skin sun damage is a major cause of premature aging and wrinkles

Although many women are unaware of it skin sun damage is one of the most potent factors in skin aging. In fact it even has its own name, it’s called photoaging. And the big question for many women is how to reverse skin sun damage.

There are a number of factors which cause the ageing of your skin. Obviously age is the most important one, and the one about which you can do nothing, but there are a number of other factors which seriously impact the visible effects of aging on your skin, including sun damage.

Sun damage to skin is caused by excessive exposure to sun. Don’t get us wrong here, exposure to the sun is important for your health, and in particular because your skin produces vitamin D from the sun. But if you expose yourself to the ultraviolet rays of the sun too much then damage is done to your skin, and the cumulative effect of this sun damage is what is called photoaging.

Of course as anyone knows overexposure to UV light will burn your skin. One of the most serious consequences of this is skin cancer, which is of course as serious a risk to your health as you can get, as it can be fatal. However the gradual buildup of damage from excess UV exposure and sunburn damages the cells of your skin, can cause skin discolouration, dry out your skin by dehydrating it and all of this leads to poor skin health and premature aging.

And of course the ultimate result is more wrinkles, skin discolouration and blotchiness, and you look older. It can even lead to broken blood vessels which are particularly unsightly on your face as well as keratoses, also unsightly.

And as well as wrinkles it can also give your skin a leathery look, which itself makes you look older.

Of course wrinkles are not just caused by sun damage. There is a range of other factors causing wrinkles, amongst them the loss of skin collagen and elastin over time as well as the impact of various lifestyle factors and in particular smoking and excess alcohol consumption.

Now that you understand the importance of avoiding sunburn you need to remember a few things. Firstly if you’re going outdoors this summer, particularly during the middle of the day, wear a hat and a long sleeved shirt with a collar. When necessary rely on sunscreen, but be aware that sunscreens can also contain damaging ingredients which may harm your health, so only use a sunscreen when necessary.

And wear sunglasses because squinting in strong light and cause eye line wrinkles. It is also useful to use a good after sun care product with Aloe Vera gel, and apply this after sun exposure, a good way of starting to repair some of the damage. The Aloe Vera will start drawing moisture to the surface of your skin to combat the dehydration.

Now to the question of how to reverse skin sun damage. If you’ve already suffered damage then you can certainly protect yourself in the future, but what do you do about the damage caused in the past?

Surprisingly one of the best things you can do is to take superior quality fish oil supplements. The Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil are beneficial to help rehydrate your skin as well as to provide essential nutrients important for skin health.

The other important thing to do is to use high quality skin care products designed to tackle some of the problems of sun damage, as well as to help improve the levels of collagen and elastin in your skin. There are some wonderful natural ingredients in the best natural skin care products which are very effective at doing just this.

So remember, whilst a suntan might be fashionable it’s also dangerous. At worst it can kill you through skin cancer, but apart from this it can lead to photoaging which will make you look older. It will accelerate the onset of wrinkles and make your skin look aged and leathery. Take care in the sun and be sensible, there’s no problem enjoying sun in moderation. Read the rest of this entry