Everyone knows about the importance of wearing appropriate sun protection in the summer. Whether it’s an appropriate SPF moisturiser, heading inside during the hottest time of the day or wearing caps and long sleeves, there are plenty of ways to help avoid the sun’s harmful rays.

However, as we start heading into autumn, you may have noticed that you’ve caught a bit too much sun this summer. The sun can wreak havoc with the skin and cause all sorts of issues, from aesthetic problems like wrinkles and pigmentation to life-altering challenges like skin cancer. It’s essential to take steps to reverse sun damage to keep your skin looking healthy. So here’s a look at how you can do just that, and why it’s important to do so.

How the Sun Damages Skin

The sun produces UV rays that reach the earth. UVA rays penetrate the skin into its deepest layers, into the dermis, and UVB rays can cause sunburn. Both have the capacity to damage the skin, causing premature ageing, mutations and cancer.

Your skin contains the pigment melanin, which protects your skin from these UV rays. That’s why those with darker skin, and more melanin, are at less risk of sun damage (but not wholly, sun safety is vital for everyone). Too much exposure to UV rays can damage skin cells, causing issues like fine lines and age spots, as well as increase your risk of cancer.

What Sun Damaged Skin Can Mean

While many people love a healthy-looking tan, too much exposure to UV rays can lead to the production of harmful enzymes in the skin that can break down collagen and elastic fibres, leading to an increase in visible wrinkles and thinning skin. Sun damage can also increase the growth of blood vessels, which can cause your skin to become mapped with veins.

Sunburn is painful, but frequent sunburn can lead to physical changes in the skin like wrinkles. The sun can also significantly dry out the skin, leaving you with rough patches. Your skin may also overproduce the chemical melanin to fight the onslaught of UV rays, and this can cause dark spots to appear. Ultimately, sun damage can cause a lot of unpleasant changes in your skin that can leave you feeling less attractive and less confident in yourself.

Treating Sun Damage

Fortunately, there are a number of treatments that you can use to reduce the effects of sun damage. At Aesthetic Skin Clinic, we are experts in treating sun-damaged skin and have a range of treatments available:

Obagi Blue Peel

Obagi is the world’s number one skincare brand, and they offer a quick, simple peel that provides fantastic results to improve both the appearance and health of the skin. With a low concentration of TCA in a blue solution, thin layers of damaged skin can be gently removed from the face or body.

The Obagi Blue Peel can correct wrinkles, unwanted pigmentation, scars and large pores. The peel removes the thin surface layers of aged and damaged skin, allowing them to be replaced with healthier ones, letting the skin’s tightness resurface.

Intracel Radiofrequency Microneedling

Intracel Radiofrequency Microneedling is a process that uses selective heating in the lower dermis, getting right into target areas without compromising the skin’s surface. The heat is not at risk of burning or hyperpigmentation and instead tightens and shortens the collagen fibres, encouraging collagen production and the stimulation of fibroblasts.

This treatment is an effective solution for those needing tighter skin and facial rejuvenation, but it can also treat scars and acne triggers.

Fraxel Skin Resurfacing

Fraxel Skin Resurfacing works by causing controlled micro-injury to the skin, to stimulate the repair process. Rather than destroy the surface of the skin, micro-thermal zones are created, and these stimulate collagen production. Fraxel targets fine lines and enlarged pore and can address pigmentation issues.

Penetrating deep into the dermis, these micro-thermal zones eliminate the old, pigmented surface cells to trigger the body’s natural healing process, which improves the overall tone and texture of the skin and targets concerns such as scarring, laxity, facial lines and wrinkles. It can also help with conditions caused by sun damage such as melasma and surface pigmentation.

Thermage CPT Face

Thermage CPT Face is a radiofrequency skin tightening treatment that can boost collagen and rejuvenate the face. A controlled amount of radiofrequency energy uniformly stimulates collagen production to provide consistent, even results across the treated surface.

Working on the lower dermis, the treatment is comfortable and straightforward. It produces tighter and firmer skin straight after treatment, with further tightness showing through in the six months following treatment. It helps to address the issues with fine lines caused by sun damage.

Sun damage can cause issues like dark spots, pigmentation and premature ageing. These can all cause serious distress to those who have been frequently exposed to the sun without protection. If you’ve spent a bit too much time in the sun this summer and feel like your skin could use a bit of rejuvenation, contact us today for our cosmetic skin clinic in Guernsey, cosmetic skin clinic in Jersey and cosmetic skin clinic in Belfast.