Build-a-Tan
When the summer sun comes out to play, most of us are eager to bask in it’s rays for a quick tan. In the 70′s and 80′s it was very common to oil our bodies to oblivian and lay in the hot sun through peak hours in the middle of the afternoon. With the rise of skin cancer over the past couple of decades, research has taught us that tanning smart is the key to healthy skin.
Building your tan is a process that takes time and occurs in two phases: the IPD phase and the delayed tanning phase.
Photoaging: Looking Older Than You Are
Over the years, your skin naturally begins to show signs of aging. For example, you may notice more wrinkles and thinner, more fragile skin. Exposure to UV light can accelerate these changes and make you appear older than you are. Skin changes caused by the sun are called photoaging.
The results of photoaging include:
- Weakening of connective tissues, which reduces the skin’s strength and elasticity
- Thinner, more translucent-looking skin
- Deep wrinkles
- Dry, rough skin
- Fine red veins on your cheeks, nose and ears
- Freckles, mostly on your face and shoulders
- Large brown lesions (macules) on your face, back of hands, arms, chest and upper back (solar lentigines, or liver spots)
- White macules on the lower legs and arms
Serious Skin Damage: Noncancerous and Cancerous Skin Tumors
Extended and repeated exposure to UV light can cause noncancerous (benign) and cancerous skin tumors:
- Seborrheic keratoses. The precise cause isn’t known, but these lesions are seen in aging skin. These tan, brown or black growths have a wart-like or waxy, pasted-on appearance and range in size from very small to more than 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) across. Typically, seborrheic keratoses don’t become cancerous, but they can resemble skin cancer.
- Actinic keratoses. Also known as solar keratoses, actinic keratoses appear as rough, scaly areas in sun-exposed areas. They vary in color from whitish, pink or flesh-colored to brown-to-dark-brown patches. They’re most commonly found on the face, ears, lower arms, and hands of fair-skinned people whose skin has been damaged by the sun. Many doctors consider actinic keratoses to be precancerous because they may develop into skin cancer.
- Skin cancer. Skin cancer develops mainly on areas of skin exposed to a lot of sun, including your scalp, face, lips, ears, neck, chest, arms, hands, and on the legs for women. Some types of skin cancer appear as a small growth or as a sore that bleeds, crusts over, heals and then reopens. In the case of melanoma, an existing mole may change or a new, suspicious-looking mole may develop. Other types of melanoma develop in areas of long-term sun exposure and start as dark flat spots that slowly darken and enlarge, known as lentigo maligna. See your doctor if you notice a new skin growth, a bothersome change in your skin, a change in the appearance or texture of a mole, or a sore that doesn’t heal within two weeks.
Bottom Line: Keep Your Skin Healthy
- Never burn
- Know your skin type and limit your exposure to the sun – especially during peak sun times – 10:00am through 3:00pm.
- Always use the proper SPF sunscreen or sunblock lotion. If possible, purchase a product that protects you from both UVB and UVA. Newer product do both – this will be shown on the front on the lotion bottle – if it does not specify that it offers UVA protection if probably doesn’t.
- Wear protective clothing including sun glasses
- If you choose to use indoor tanning facilities do so in moderation and strictly follow the guidelines and advice given to you by the salon.
