Ah yes! It's that time of year when everyone wants to soak in the vitamin D. Who wants to sit in the shade when tanning is on the agenda, right? WRONG!
Young ladies in their teens and twenties know so little about all the cons of excess sun exposure. In fact, they don't even care. They are so into the here & now; if it's not broke, don't fix it mentality. They feel that 10 years is 100 years away. What's most unfortunate is that advise and warnings sound more like annoying nagging to them.
Well my dear young ladies, do I have a treat for you. This article is all about summer sunning. Let's start with a list of how excessive sun can negatively affect our skin.
Repercussions
- Premature skin aging: early signs of ageing such as lines and wrinkles will appear in your mid to late 20's instead of your 40's or 50's.
- Dark Sports: also known as Hyperpigmentation, will give your skin an uneven tone of light areas and dark areas.
This is not to be confused with Sun Spots. Tinea Versicolor is a skin fungus. These kind of spots appear when exposed skin has been in the sun for a certain amount of time. It's like seeing water and oil on your skin; the 2 will never combine. Sun Spots (T.V.) will never change their pigmentation no matter how much sun you get.
- Skin Cancer: a life threatening disease. If discovered at its early stage, it may be surgically removed.
- Worsens Acne: exposing acne to direct sunlight causes inflammation and may worsen healing tissue thus causing scarring.
If this list didn't make you flinch, then keep reading.
What lies beneath
This photo was sited on weather.com in the article "why do we get sunburns" by Adam Hadhazy (link to full article: https://weather.com/health/news/why-do-we-get-sunburns-20130710#1). A UV Facial Scanner reveals all the sun damage that is hiding beneath your skin. Last December, I had a UV facial scan and I almost shed a tear after viewing the results. I never thought I'd see myself as a dried up mummy. Once the damage is done, it is very hard to reverse. All that underlaying damage will eventually surface.
There are other factors that contribute towards these damaging effects, but that is a conversation for another day.
Vitamin D is an important nutrient we get from the sun, not just from supplements. All you need is 15 minutes of sun to absorb your daily dose of vitamin D.
Myth: if you apply sunscreen, you wont get a tan.
Fact: if you apply sunscreen, you will still tan and avoid a painful sunburn.
If you take a look at the image below, it should help you visualize the issue. The diagram below was sited on simplysunscreen.com; full Iink (https://www.simplysunscreen.com/uvb.html). This image clearly shows how the sun rays hit and penetrate the skin. This makes the harm from UV a lot more obvious, doesn't it?!
In my next post, I will discuss the ways you can prevent skin damage and I'll recommend my favorite products. In the meantime, please take into consideration everything that has been discussed in this post. Let me know if you learned anything and/or if you think I left something out.
Remember to share this post with your friends and family so that they are also informed.
Thanks for the read and I'll see you next time!
XoXo, Mrs. Ladybug
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