skin protection

Sunlight has an importance to the skin because it helps it manufacture vitamin D that is used in the normal bone formation but the ultraviolet rays from the sun can be very disadvantageous. The outer layer of the skin has an outer layer which has a pigment called melanin. Melanin is used to protect the skin from the ultraviolet rays from the sun because the ultraviolet rays can burn the skin and over time it reduces the elasticity and causes aging which might not show when you are young but will appear later in your life. The fibers that the sun’s ultraviolet rays destroy causing aging are called elastin. The destruction of these fibers causes the skin to become loose or to sag, stretch and the skin will not be able to snap back after it has stretched. To add on these the skin will not only bruise and tear easily, but it will take longer time to heal.

Effects of aging on the skin

The skin changes with age due to lifetime exposure to the sun, personal habits like smoking and normal body changes due to age. As we our age, the skin will not be as smooth or tight as it was when we were young. It may be drier, more fragile and thinner. The skin bruises easily because of loss of support on the blood vessel wall.

Loosing fat in the chin, cheeks, temples, nose and around the eye may loosen the skin and makes the face to have a leaner look. Losing the bone around the mouth and chin, the skin around the mouth will be pucker, and even the nose may change if the cartilages in the nose are lost. At the age of 30 and 40 one may notice lines on their face when they make expressions. The lines can be horizontal lines on the forehead and small, curvy lines on the temple, upper cheek and around the mouth. Aging can also lead to gravity making the eyebrows and the eyelids droop, it may loosen the cheeks and the jaws, and lengthens the earlobes. We all know, gravity cannot be fought, it is there stay, but the skin can be protected from aging by protecting it from the sun and other factors.

The damage of the sun on the skin cannot be completely undone, but at times the skin can repair the damage. It is important to protect your skin from the sun ultraviolet rays; it not only causes aging but also skin cancer. Aging can be controlled by limiting the period of time you get exposed to the sun, especially between ten in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. This can be achieved by wearing a sunscreen with zinc oxides and wearing proper clothing that covers the skin exposed to sun like long sleeved shirts, pants and sunglasses. Sunscreens have active ingredients that work in two ways. The first way is by absorbing the sun’s ultraviolet radiations, and the second way is by reflecting the radiations.