Sun Damage VS Ageing: Whats The Best Treatment For Both?

We often think of skin changes as we age, focusing on the lines and spots that come with growing old. But what if most of those changes are actually due to sun damage, not age? Solar irradiation causes damage that might age your skin beyond its years, and it's beneficial to be aware of the distinction. 

In this blog post, we will discuss how you can differentiate whether changes in your skin are due to sun damage or natural ageing.

Causes Of Ageing & Sun Damage

Natural Ageing 

In the ageing process, skin experiences natural changes that occur due to ageing. Over time, the skin slowly loses collagen and elastin, two proteins that cause it to be taut and elastic. Without enough of these proteins, the skin becomes thinner and starts to sag. That is why older skin often appears with wrinkles, fine lines, and a bit of a "droopy" look. Natural ageing also causes a reduction in the oil production in the skin; it results in drier skin and sometimes contributes to how dull it looks.

Sun Damage (photo-ageing)

Sun damaged skin is also caused by excessive exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. When your skin spends too many days in the sun, the UV rays can penetrate your skin so deeply that they force cells to age faster than usual. The result is known as "photo-ageing" or "sun ageing." It is when the skin acts older than it is. This sun damage builds up over time and can change the texture, colour, and overall appearance of the skin.

Here’s How To Recognise The Difference 

1. Lines & Wrinkles

• Natural Ageing: Lines caused by natural ageing are finer and begin to appear at an earlier age in areas of the body that naturally fold, such as the eyes, mouth, or forehead. These lines appear gradually over numerous years.

• Sun Damage: Sun-related wrinkles are usually more significant and may develop earlier than those caused by ageing. They are likely to appear on the parts of the skin that are most exposed to the sun, such as the cheeks, upper lip, and back of the hands. These sun-related wrinkles have a coarser appearance and could even appear in younger individuals who spend most of their time in the sun without sun protection.

2. Skin Colour & Pigmentation

• Natural Ageing: With time, your skin might lose its glow and become a little more errant in appearance. These usually are minimal changes and occur in only a few directions, and they don't look like dark or noticeable spots.

• Sun Damage: Sun damage usually causes hyperpigmentation, which includes dark spots and "age spots" or "sun spots." These are flat, brownish spots that are especially common on the face, chest, shoulders, and hands—places that are often exposed to sunlight. Sunspots usually appear in groups and can become more visible with time and with continuing sun exposure.

3. Texture Of Skin 

• Natural Ageing: In natural ageing, the skin has a drier and slightly coarser texture, though the changes are generally mild and occur over a broad time frame.

• Sun Damage: Sun damage usually has a rough and leathery texture, commonly seen on body parts exposed to the sun. It causes an uneven surface in the skin. It leads to a condition called actinic keratoses, small hard bumps formed on the skin due to continuous exposure to the sun. A dermatologist must also check these actinic keratoses because, in some instances, these actinic keratoses become skin cancer.

4. Redness and Broken Capillaries

• Natural Ageing: Broken capillaries and redness aren't especially common just from natural ageing alone. They can appear as skin thinners but don't usually become especially noticeable without other contributing factors.

• Sun Damage: The UV rays in sunlight cause blood vessels to dilate and break. Thus, tiny red veins and redness develop increasingly around the nose and cheeks. Sun damage is an indication that tends to occur more in people with lighter skin tones who have spent years under the sun without protection.

Here’s The Best Treatment For Both— UltraClear Laser Treatment

UltraClear laser treatment Leeds is a noninvasive skin therapy that penetrates the damaged layers of the skin without breaking down the surrounding tissues. It works by gently removing affected cells from the outermost layer of skin, with penetration deeper to help build up collagen. This leads to an improvement in the texture and tone of the skin because of internal renewal.

It only breaks down dark spots, lessens redness, and fills in rough patches while allowing your skin to heal and restore naturally. With each session, your skin starts firming up, becomes clearer and more noticeable, and eventually appears more even with the dramatic improvement in all sun damage and ageing areas.