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Skin ageing due to sun & sun damage

Tips and tricks for proper sun protection

Sonnenschutz im Sommer und warum die Sonne den Alterungsprozess unsere Haut beschleunigt

The greatest danger in the sun is of course skin cancer, especially malignant melanoma black skin cancer. There’s nothing to shake about that. Of course, the sun also causes other damage – it suppresses our immune system after a short time, which means we have a certain immune deficiency, keyword cold sores, we can get sunburn and we can develop photo-ageing.

This means that the skin simply ages faster under UV rays. In general, we are subject to intrinsic and extrinsic skin ageing. This means that, on the one hand, we not only age internally, but the skin also ages with us. This is primarily genetic, but also hormonal. We can’t change this very much, it’s more or less pre-programmed.

However, we can influence 80% of how we age as far as our skin is concerned and how much we can perhaps delay this ageing process a little. We cannot stop it completely. There are many tips and tricks you can do to slow down this photo-aging and premature skin ageing a little.

Is the sun really that aggressive?

The sun should not be portrayed as hostile, especially in summer. The measurements show that solar activity per se has not become more aggressive, although everyone is always talking about how the sun is more aggressive today and how the sun’s rays are more dangerous – I would say not. But what has certainly developed differently since the 1980s is the ozone layer.

Researchers have found that UV exposure (the sun’s harmful rays) has increased by 5%, although levels are now stagnant. We know we have UVA and UVB. UVB is the type of solar radiation that causes sunburn and ultimately skin cancer, malignant melanoma (UVA too, but only after much higher doses).

Nevertheless, and this is the concrete answer – natural sun is quite good, but enjoy everything with moderation and purpose, as in the rest of your life. You can spend a lot of time in the morning and evening sun, do sport and the best tip when it comes to sun protection in general is certainly avoidance and clothing. That rhymes, which is always good to remember. This means that the most aggressive hours of the day are from 11.00 or 11.30 to 15.30 – preferably avoid them altogether and, if you do go out in the sun, dress properly and appropriately. The specific tip is that there is proper UV clothing for children and adults that you can wear and that can cover large parts of your body. For older people, such as balding men, a sun hat is certainly better than any sun protection.

What about shade? Does it protect our skin?

There are different studies on how much of the dangerous UV radiation ultimately affects us in the shade, and of course it always depends on the type of shade. These studies say that between 50-90% of UV radiation still gets through in the shade. That’s why you shouldn’t think you’re safe in the shade, because that’s very deceptive.

It is the same when there is cloud cover in the sky, as a lot of scattered radiation comes through and often also more intensively through the particles in the cloud – this reflects the light and the sun’s radiation is therefore in no way unchecked. This means , of course, that sun protection should also be applied in the shade.

Is there also strong radiation on the skin in the water?

Water is doubly deceptive because you also lose the sun protection through the water and the sun protection factor indicated on the sun protection bottle is reduced very quickly, so to speak. In addition, the water itself reflects the radiation. If the water has a smooth surface, it acts almost like a mirror, which means that we actually have a twofold risk to the skin in or near the water.

Unfortunately, wearing a T-shirt in the water doesn’t help much, what helps is a high sun protection factor and frequent reapplication of sunscreen –this is often not so well known. A high sun protection factor on sun protection products provides a high level of protection for the skin.

You should also apply a sufficient amount of sun protection products. The recommended amount is 2 ml per square centimeter – but that’s not really enough. Basically, I tell my patients in the surgery about the rule of double lubrication: we lubricate the face and body as we are used to from the amount and immediately afterwards we repeat this process and lubricate ourselves a second time. Then we only achieve approximately the sun protection factor that is actually on the sun protection product in front of us.

For example, if we have a sun protection cream with a sun protection factor of 50 and we apply it as normal, as we do in the outdoor pool, then we practically achieve a sun protection factor of 9 to 10 and that is really alarming for me because it is not even half. Why is it like that? Because the sun protection factor decreases logarithmically with decreasing quantity, i.e. it decreases disproportionately and with one application we don’t even have half, but less.

That’s why my message is not only to use a sufficiently high sun protection factor, but also to apply enough of it.

Ideally, the sunscreen should be applied 20-30 minutes in advance, preferably at home before you go to the beach. The sunscreen needs a certain amount of time to activate.

It is the same when there is cloud cover in the sky, as a lot of scattered radiation comes through and often also more intensively through the particles in the cloud – this reflects the light and the sun’s radiation is therefore in no way unchecked. This means , of course, that sun protection should also be applied in the shade.

How do we protect children from the sun?

Protective clothing against the sun (swimsuits or bathing costumes) are highly recommended, especially for children. Very young children should not be exposed to the intense sun. I wouldn’t even put sunscreen on them until they are 2 years old, they should avoid the aggressive sun and be dressed accordingly with these UV swimsuits and protective caps. This is a very good and, above all, the safest solution.

A distinction must also be made between physical sun protection and chemical sun protection. Small children from the age of 2 can already apply physical sun protection very well. These are nothing more than small zinc or titanium dioxide mirrors that are ultimately applied to the skin.

The advantage from a dermatological point of view is that this sun protection is completely harmless, as neither the sun nor the cream penetrates the body.