Spending time in the sun isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, you should pay close attention to what might be happening with skin conditions that could be the result of too many hours under a sunny, Lowcountry sky.
Skin Health Risks From Sun Exposure
You’ve likely done it a thousand times – spent hours on the beach or by a pool working on your tan under a sunny summer sky. Whether this ritual leaves you with a golden tan, darker skin or an uncomfortable sunburn, in too many cases it will produce skin spots, age spots or even skin cancer.
Knowing the warning signs now and what they mean can make for healthier skin and a healthier life as you age.
The Importance of Monitoring Skin Changes
“There is a psychosocial component to the presence of skin blemishes or discoloration,” said Todd Schlesinger, MD, director of Epiphany Dermatology and the Clinical Research Center of the Carolinas in Charleston. “So in order for someone to have the best lifestyle they can, proper treatment and monitoring is important and suggested.”
Consider, for example, these four skin conditions that tend to become concerns after age 40:
Hyperpigmentation
With this condition, your skin color is darker in some places than the surrounding skin. While it can occur on any part of your body, there usually are underlying causes such as acne, dermatitis, hormonal changes, genetics, sun exposure, birth control pills or the result of skin trauma. It can affect the outer layer as well as the deeper layers of the skin, epidermis and dermis.
“Hyperpigmentation is often regarded as cosmetic, but, since it often has a medical cause, it is treated as a medical condition,” Dr. Schlesinger said. “The treatment can often include topical medications that reduce the transfer of melanin from the cells that make it to the cells that store it.”
Solar Lentigo (Age Spots)
Often called age spots because they increase in number with aging, solar lentigo is darkened skin that comes from exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
“The evidence for this is to look at non-sun-exposed areas of the body – such as the buttocks, inner arms or covered areas of the trunk – where you are likely to see reduced or no age spots,” Dr. Schlesinger said. He added that while solar lentigo is harmless and does not require medical treatment, people generally should have annual skin exams “to evaluate for the signs of skin cancer.”
Seborrheic Keratosis
This somewhat tricky name to pronounce is simply a harmless skin growth that appears as an ashy light tan, brown or black growth. A loose interpretation of the Latin root name is “abnormal skin protein.” The growths, or lesions, look waxy or scaly and are slightly raised. They can appear gradually on the face, neck and chest but are most commonly found on the back.
Researchers with the Mayo Clinic report that this type of growth tends run in families, so if your parents and siblings have them, there’s a good chance that you will have them as well. You can have kerotoses removed if they become irritating or unsightly.
Skin Cancer and UV Exposure
Unlike other forms of cancer, its cause in the vast majority of cases is known: It comes from overexposure to UV rays from the sun, tanning beds or sun lamps. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta reports that in the short term, UV skin damage can cause sunburn – but, over time, the damage can not only compromise later attempts at skin care but also lead to changes in skin texture, premature skin aging and skin cancer.
So even if your skin is no longer skintight, blemish-free or the same color from head to toe, Dr. Schlesinger said a few simple steps or changes in your lifestyle can keep its changes from getting “under your skin.”
The Value of Regular Skin Exams
“It is, however, important to get regular skin exams to evaluate for possible skin cancer, which if caught at early stages is very curable in most cases,” he said.
By L. C. Leach III
