Healthy Life Style


Why are the Cumulative Effects of Sun exposure so Damaging?

by Kathleen LeRoi

Safeguarding your skin against the sun is not something you should ignore. For as long as you live, the sun's effects will be compounded. This means that as you get older, the damage that the sun has wreaked upon our skin will become increasingly evident.

Studies have shown that both UVA and UVB radiation are responsible for solar damage to the skin. They have also shown that photoaging due to this radiation occurs within the first 20 years of your life. Therefore, the sooner you begin taking protective measures, the better off your skin will be.

Dermatoheliosis is the term used to describe the cumulative effects of chronic sun exposure. The changes in the skin range from benign proliferation of skin cells (hyperplasia) to epidermal dysplasia and neoplasia, both of which can be benign or malignant.

Dermatoheliosis also leads to blotchy pigmentation. Solar damage stimulates an abnormal deposition of clumps of elastin within the dermis, which is called elastosis. Elastosis is what leads to wrinkling.

As you age, your skin becomes more fragile and less capable of protecting itself from the sun. Also, by the time you turn 70 the cells that produce melanin, known as melanocytes, per unit area will have diminished by about 40%. As melanin protects you from photodamage, a decrease in the amount of melanocytes means skin that is more susceptible to damage.

Protecting Your Skin from the Cumulative Effects of the Sun

To help your skin have the protection it needs, it is important to use sun protection every day, even on cloudy days. The right skin care products with UVA and UVB protection are the best. The proper clothing such as wide-brimmed hats and long-sleeved shirts are also essential to protect against sun damage.

Photoaging is only one of the many results of chronic sun damage. Skin cancer is one of the most severe results of the collective effects of sun damage. Clearly, using UV protection from a young age will protect your skin, especially if you pick from our natural skin care products that are perfect for all skin types without producing any side effects.

Published January 30th, 2009

Filed in Health

BIOCUTIS skin care products:

Moisturize and stimulate the renewal of dead and dyeing cells. Restore the capacity of the skin to hold in water from within.

Replenish the lipid barrier of our skin thereby impeding the penetration of allergens and toxins.

Induce the reproduction of antimicrobial peptides on the surface of the skin and within the skin follicles contributing to control microbes.

Digest keratin plugs and debris and unblocks clogged pores allowing for the outflow of sebum to the surface where it lubricates and protects the skin instead of causing injuries to the cells lining the follicles and an inflammatory reaction of the body to repair the lesions.

Signal the immune system it is being taken care of and does not need to fire its immune responses and overly react to minor injuries thus avoiding the loss of tissues that characterizes deep acne scarring.

Prevent scarring and remove scars from accidental injuries and post surgery; stria marks; abnormal hypertrophic and keloid scars; keratosis pilaris; actinic keratosis scales by the breakdown abnormal, dysfunctional and damaged tissues into their amino acid components while stimulating their replacement with new healthy skin structures.

Vanish redness and dryness, relieves eczema and dermatitis, reduce psoriasis scales and most types of skin blemishes.

Repair skin damaged by glycolic peeling and other chemical peels, dermabrasion or laser resurfacing.

By strengthening the skin they relieve the dreaded side effects caused by retinoic drugs, Isotretinoin (Accutane),  that make the skin thinner while taken in to halt severe nodular cystic acne.

Reduce and heals skin fragility and is an antioxidant that helps to reduce the damaging effects on the dermis of sunburns and excess exposure to solar radiation.

Help to heal blisters, bruises, wounds, and the consequences on the skin of ionizing radiotherapy or radiodermatitis.