skin disorders
Overview of Sunlight and Skin Damage
Treatment of Sunlight and Skin Damage
Sunburn prevention For photoaging, treatments applied to the skin To minimize the damaging effects of the sun, it is particularly important to avoid further sun exposure and tanning beds, wear protective clothing, and apply sunscreens (see Prevention ). Because sunlight can penetrate glass, and because sun exposure often occurs before a person thinks about preventing it, applying sunscreen routinely, even when indoors, can help prevent photoaging. Damage that is already done is difficult to reverse. Moisturizing creams temporarily plump up wrinkles, and makeup helps hide imperfections in skin color (such as freckles, sun spots, and lentigines) and some fine wrinkles. Deep wrinkles and substantial skin damage, however, require significant treatment to be reversed. Various treatments, such as chemical peels, alpha-hydroxy acids,tretinoincreams, and laser skin resurfacing, may improve the cosmetic appearance of chronically sun-damaged skin. Although these treatments can improve the look of superficial skin changes (for example, fine wrinkles, irregular pigmentation, yellowish or brownish discoloration, and roughness), they have much less of an effect on deeper wrinkles and substantial skin damage. For treatment of actinic keratoses, see Actinic Keratoses . For treatment of skin cancers, see Overview of Skin Cancer . 