If you spend most of your summers outdoors, then there’s a high chance that you have sun damaged skin. How can you tell your skin has been damaged? Here are 5 common signs to look out for.
1. Believe it or not, your nice golden tan is a sign of sun damaged skin.
While you may love that tan you currently have going through the summer, it’s actually a sign of sun damaged skin. Your skin changes color once the top layer of your skin has been damaged. The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays cause this damage. This damage increases the risk of cancer and speeds up the aging of your skin. In order to protect your skin, we suggest following these important sun safety tips all year long.
2. That painful sunburn.
Many people believe that if they burn once during the summer, they will begin to tan. However, all that sunburn is really doing is creating sun damaged skin. Sunburns can be first or second-degree burns that affect the first layer of your skin all the way down to the nerve endings. If your skin is more of a pale tone and you frequently become sunburned, your skin is repeatedly damaged.
3. Uneven skin tones can be a sign of sun damaged skin.
Sun damaged skin can also show itself as uneven skin tones. Spending too much time in the sun can cause some areas of your skin to appear darker, while other areas appear lighter. Permanent changes in the blood vessels can also happen, causing your skin to take on a reddish hue.
4. Actinic keratoses can appear.
Actinic keratoses are characterized by red, brown, or skin-colored patches that are small and scaly – all signs that your skin is damaged. Spending too much time in the sun can cause these patches to show up on your head, neck, or hands – areas most commonly exposed to the sun. This type of damage can eventually turn into squamous cell carcinoma if not treated.
5. Skin cancer can develop.
There are many types of skin cancer, which all point to sun damaged skin. The different types of skin cancer include squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Each type of cancer has its own signs and symptoms, including large discolored patches and moles that change in size and color. If you have concerns about your skin, speak to a dermatologist. The earlier you treat skin cancer, the better.
Now that you know the signs for sun damaged skin, how can you treat it?
If your skin has been damaged by the sun, you can treat it with photodynamic therapy. Photodynamic therapy is a treatment that targets pre-cancerous lesions and sun damaged skin by using a photosynthesizing drug that applies light therapy to the targeted areas. You might have also heard photodynamic therapy called phototherapy, photochemotherapy, or photo radiation therapy.
You will begin a photodynamic therapy session by having the area being targeted cleaned with an astringent and then having the photosynthesizing drug applied to the area. At this time, you will be able to leave the office for approximately two hours while the drug seeps into your skin. While you are not in the office, be sure to protect the areas from the sun.
Once two hours have passed, you’ll return to the office for the light therapy part of the session. For approximately 15 minutes you will sit with a blue light device on the targeted areas of sun damaged skin. Once the light therapy is completed, the affected areas will be sensitive for 48 hours. It is important to protect your skin during this recovery period by wearing sunscreen and protective clothing. In 6 weeks, you’ll return to the office for a follow-up appointment.
It is important to note that while photodynamic therapy is a medical dermatology procedure that treats precancerous lesions, it cannot be used to treat cancerous cells that have deeply penetrated the skin. Photodynamic therapy also cannot be used to treat people who have specific blood diseases or allergies. If you are interested in treating your sun damaged skin with phototherapy, contact any of our three Pittsburgh dermatology offices.
Vujevich Dermatology Associates offers medical, surgical, and cosmetic dermatology from some of the most highly trained physicians and clinicians in the greater Pittsburgh area. You can reach our team at 412-429-2570 or visit our contact page to see all of our locations. You can also follow us on Facebook to see what’s new in the world of dermatology.