Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Sun And Preventing Wrinkles

By Owen Jones


There is a proven association between the force of the sun's rays and skin wrinkles. This has been known for a very long time, but what has been known for less long is why. We now know that the sun's rays contain several kinds of ultra-violet light. Some are totally or partially blocked by the Earth's atmosphere, but some get through too.

The overwhelming majority of our facial wrinkles are the result of exposure to UVA and UVB rays. We now know that it does not count what the origin of those rays is, it is the UV rays themselves that injure skin, for that is what wrinkles are - damaged skin.

This injury can come from sun lamps and sun beds too, because UV rays are also the ones that cause our skin to go brown. Unfortunately, in the process of attaining the desired colouration, you have to cause the skin injury. The trick here is to minimize the damage whilst attaining the required colour.

Children's skin is particularly vulnerable to UV harm which may have a life long impact on their likelihood of developing cancer later on, maybe decades later. The only way to stop this happening is to take safety measures at all times whilst dealing with these rays from whatever source they may come.

One of the main causes for wrinkles is the breakdown of collagen in the skin which changes its elasticity. When the skin loses elasticity, it will not return to its standard place or state and hangs limp.

So, how could you prevent this happening or at least slow down the procedure? The most obvious solution is to stay away from UV rays, but that would mean no more sunbathing, swimming in the open air or using sun beds. The other way is to use creams and lotions to filter out the detrimental rays.

However, many individuals do not use sun screen or sun block at all or at least not in the correct manner. The UV rays that do harm are UVA, UVB and UVC. UVC is blocked entirely by the atmosphere and UVB, which browns the upper layer of skin only is easily blocked - for example, it will not even pass through glass. UVA burns deeper into the skin and creates a long term tan.

Therefore, you need to check that your sun screen will block UVA and UVB. UVA rays are fairly constant in strength throughout the day, but UVB fluctuates, so you need to take that into account while applying the lotion.

The first thing to do is determine what type of skin you have. People with fair skin, freckles and ginger or blond hair are most at risk to skin injury. The gradation of skin and hair colour largely determines the skin sort and its susceptibility to harm.

Next you have to know the strength of the sun in the area where you are and finally, the sun is at its hottest between 11 AM and 4 PM, so apply sun block creams and lotions accordingly. If you are uncertain of local conditions, call into a local health or beauty shop and ask their opinion.




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