Sun Damage
There are many forms of sun damage. The most common are a sunburn or a sun tan. Both of these lead to premature aging of the skin and skin cancers. Both are symptoms of sun damage.
While skin cancers are being diagnosed at younger and younger ages, people older than 40 who have had many suntans and/or sunburns should be particularly aware of methods for detecting skin cancers. These methods include complete monthly self body checks, routine skin checks given at annual physicals or by a dermatologist, and free skin cancer screenings offered by volunteer dermatologists. Any suspicious change in skin should be reported to a dermatologist.
Most sun damage to our skin is caused by two types of sunrays - UVB and UVA. UVB is responsible for burning, while UVA does not typically burn, it penetrates the skin more deeply to cause more serious damage. Do not be fooled by tanning salon claims that UVA is safer than UVB.
Sun damage also effects the eyes. Eyes that have been exposed to ultraviolet radiation may form cataracts, develop macular degeneration or suffer from other eye diseases. Your eyes need as much protection as your skin.
Sun damage to both your skin and your eyes can happen from direct and indirect exposure to UV. Direct exposure occurs when rays from the sun or a man made device pass in a direct line from the source to hit the skin directly. Indirect exposure occurs when the rays bounce from a surface, such as sand, snow, water and concrete e.g. pools. Indirect exposure causes the same damage and may be more potentially harmful as people don’t generally think to protect themselves from it. For example, even when wearing a hat with a 3” brim or larger, indirect UV can bounce up and hit your face – particularly your chin and cheeks. Similarly, when under an umbrella at the beach you are probably well protected against direct UV but may still be exposed to significant reflected UV.
You can protect your skin and your eyes from sun damage caused by both direct and indirect exposure by using sun protective clothing, including a hat with a three inch brim, sunglasses, sunscreens that are broad spectrum to block both UVB and UVA and have a SPF 30 or higher, and checking the UV index to find out when to avoid exposure.
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