Dreaming of that Beach Body?
June 30, 2015
Can sun damage to the skin be reversed?
July 24, 2015
Before the arrival of the glorious summer sun has you digging out your bikini top and rubbing in the tanning oil, spare your skin a moment’s thought. While skin cancer doesn’t get the same media attention as other cancers, the sobering fact is that it is one of the fastest rising malignancies to affect the UK population – and particularly so in 18–35-year-olds. With seven people dying of the disease every day, it’s not a danger to be ignored. At our Timeless Skin Care clinic in central London our clients often ask what is the best thing they can do for their skin. Our top answer is ‘stay safe in the sun’ and here are three tips on how to do it:
- One sunscreen is not the same as the next. To protect your skin against UVB, look for a high protection SPF (30 or more), and to keep UVA at bay, look for the UVA circle logo and/or 4 or 5 UVA stars.
- Timing matters. Apply your sunscreen before you go out, a good 15–30 minutes in advance. You then need to reapply every two hours and, if you are swimming and towel drying, make sure you reapply immediately.
- Beware the midday sun. Avoid sitting in the sun between 11am and 3pm.
What if I’ve already damaged my skin?
The most common skin condition related to sun damage is solar keratosis. Also known as actinic keratoses, these are patches of rough, scaly skin found anywhere on the face and body that is regularly exposed to the powerful rays of the sun. As you get older and accumulate more sun damage it’s common to have a number of these patches all over.
The Cryopen is an exciting innovation in precision, directing a very fine jet of cryogen to the skin lesion, freezing the lesion but not the surrounding tissue. It can be effective in the treatment of pre-cancerous solar keratosis (AK).
