WELLNESS
Take Care of Your Skin Health This Summer With the sunny months upon us, we ask is SPF really that important?
After more than two years living under the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic, this summer will bring with it a much-anticipated sense of freedom to enjoy some fun in the sun with friends and family. As well as being a great mood-booster, the sun is an important source of vitamin D, which is needed for healthy bones and which the body creates through direct sunlight on the skin. However, sun exposure is not without risk, so protecting the skin from its harmful effects should be top of any sunworshipper’s list of priorities. While most people acknowledge the link between sun exposure and skin cancer, they may not be aware that the sun is directly responsible for around 90% of the visible signs of ageing on our skin. The process is known as photoageing and causes those familiar indications associated with Mr Paul Banwell, consultant plastic surgeon, age: lines and wrinkles, pigmentation The Banwell Clinic, (age spots, liver spots, blotchiness), East Grinstead IG: @paulbanwell loss of elasticity, broken capillaries (spider veins), and uneven skin texture. “The skin is subject to all sorts of damage mainly from what we call the solar constant. That includes ultraviolet radiation that we’ve all heard of – UVA and UVB – but also includes radiation from infrared and visible light,” explains Mr Paul Banwell, consultant plastic surgeon specialising in skin. “Those wavelengths damage the intrinsic structure of the skin, leading to ageing and potentially, skin cancer.”
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How the sun damages the skin Ultraviolet rays, UVA and UVB, are the commonly known wavelengths of light produced by the sun. When they hit the skin, they penetrate both superficially and to the deeper layers of the dermis, breaking down the skin’s DNA. According to Mr Banwell, the impact is seen straight away as you begin to develop a suntan. That deepening pigmentation is caused by increased production of melanin, a process kickstarted by the skin’s cells to safeguard against further harm. In other words, even if you don’t burn, any change in your skin’s colour is a sign of injury and means your body is in damage-limitation mode. Over time, radiation degrades the collagen and elastin fibres that form the skin’s structure and give youthful skin its plump, taut appearance. That loss of elasticity gradually yields the hallmarks of age – fine lines, wrinkles and sagginess. More dangerously, if the skin’s DNA sustains enough long-term damage, the cells multiply and grow uncontrollably and can lead to cancer. The damaging effects of the sun start to unfold long before the tell-tale signs emerge. “If you’re in the sun a lot from a young age, your cumulative sun exposure increases, which means your risk of skin damage is higher,” Mr Banwell says, adding, “Any burning episodes, especially during childhood or when younger, are highly predictive of future skin cancer formation.” In fact, Mr Banwell reiterates that just one episode of blistering sunburn as a child, or burning in the sun five or more times at any age, doubles your risk of developing melanoma, an often-deadly form of skin cancer that’s
