Can You Repair Your Skin From Sun Damage? Here's What Experts Have To Say
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Loading... - Arnaud Ambe
- 25 Aug 2022
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If you could only have one skin care product for the rest of your days, what would it be? A pretty common answer, especially from skin care professionals, would likely be sunscreen. While chemical exfoliants, face masks, and serums of all kinds are fun and great for extra care, SPF might just be the most essential.
This is because it's the only product that can protect your skin from sun damage, something that can trigger all sorts of negative effects on the skin—some of which you'd look to those extra products to treat.
So priority No. 1 is always prevention. But even among the most diligent skin care devotees, sun care slip-ups do happen—which may leave some wondering: Are there any additional steps that can actually reverse the damage done?
Here, skin experts go over what we know about sun damage thus far and what to do about it.
What is sun damage, and what are the effects?
Before we get into whether or not you can repair skin damage from the sun, let's first be clear about what's happening below the surface. "The DNA in skin cells gets damaged when the skin is unprotected and exposed to UVA and UVB radiation from the sun," explains Jodi LoGerfo, DNP, who is a doctor of nursing practice and a family nurse practitioner certified in family medicine and dermatology.
When these cells are damaged it leads to genetic defects and mutations. These, in turn, can manifest in a few different ways including:
Skin cancer
Wrinkles
Dark spots
Hyperpigmentation
Skin sagging
Jodi reiterates, "It is important to be reminded that UV radiation is a proven human carcinogen. UV radiation results in basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin; both of these types of cancers frequently develop on sun-exposed areas of skin."
For this reason and more, you should prioritize sun damage prevention (more on that in a bit), even if certain physical effects of sun damage such as fine lines and dark spots can be treated over time.
Can you repair sun damage?
Overall, you can't repair sun damage completely. However, there are certain topical products and procedures that can be done to better the visual effects of sun damage, says board-certified dermatologist Rebecca Marcus, M.D.
"Topical retinoids are useful in repairing photodamage (damage to the skin caused by UV radiation)," Marcus explains. Tretinoin specifically has been studied and used for this purpose, in addition to treating other skin conditions like moderate acne and naturally occurring fine lines. Read More...
