6 Telltale Signs Your Skin Has Been Damaged by the Sun

The warmth of the sun’s rays feels incredible and conjures memories of good times at the beach, playing your favorite sport, and more. You can get too much of a good thing, though, and with the sun, excessive exposure can lead to signs of aging and even skin cancer.

Dr. Sharon Gertzman offers a multitude of treatments that minimize the damage the sun has done and restore your skin’s firmness and glow so you feel confident again. She takes the time to answer your questions and discuss how best to customize your treatment plan so it matches your goals. 

Get to know the indicators of sun damage

If you notice signs of aging on your face that you don’t appreciate, you’re not alone. Signs of aging caused by the sun include:

1. Freckle face

They might look cute on 5-year-old, but freckles count as a major sun damage sign when you’re older.

2. Spots that are bigger than freckles

If you notice sizable brown spots on your skin, this is also due to degradation caused by the sun. Whether you refer to them as liver spots, age spots, or solar lentigines (the dermatologist’s term), these are no fun to have on your face.

3. Leathery look

We all want skin that’s devoid of grooves, but if your skin looks more like an alligator’s than a human’s, the sun is usually to blame.

4. Skin texture 

Smoothness is prized when it comes to our skin, but the sun’s rays coursen it over time.

5. Dryness

Unfortunately, having your skin sun-kissed also means robbing it of moisture — in the short- and long-term. Dryness contributes to wrinkles and other signs of aging.

6. Redness

Not only does the sun burn you and cause immediate redness, sustained exposure also leaves an unwelcome rosiness that doesn’t disappear as time goes on. Even worse, if you live with rosacea, a skin condition that causes redness and blotchiness, sun exposure exacerbates it.

None of these effects from the sun is welcome. Overall, the sun ages your skin, so protection is critical. If you already have sun damaged skin, there are treatment options that can mitigate sun damage and turn back the clock on your skin.

Treatments that can help if your skin is sun-damaged

Serenity Medical Spa offers a bevy of treatment options, all with the goal of ridding your skin of the sun’s ravages.

1. IPL Laser Therapy

IPL is short for “intense pulsed light,” so IPL therapy uses the application of varying light wavelengths to gently remove skin damaged by hyperpigmentation and other sun damage, one layer of skin at a time. The light actually breaks up the pigment on your skin into minute particles, which are shed naturally.

IPL treatments are noninvasive, quick (only about 15 minute), and painless, and most patients have a series of three to five treatment sessions, with three or four week breaks in between. You can see results in just days, and IPL treatment is ideal for your face, chest, hands, and neck.

During treatment, Dr. Gertzman applies a numbing gel to your skin, and while she directs the IPL device carefully over your skin, a cooling mechanism ensures your comfort. After treatment, there’s zero downtime. 

2. TempSure Envi 

TempSure™ Envi treatments deliver radiofrequency (RF) energy deep into your skin and promote collagen production. Collagen is an important protein in your connective tissues that keeps skin firm and supple. Your skin’s foundation is strengthened and smoothed.

3. Vivace RF

VivaceⓇ RF is a treatment that harnesses the benefits of microneedling, a process that  introduces tiny punctures into your skin to promote healing and collagen production with RF energy. The RF factor in the treatment hastens collagen production.

4. PicoSure laser treatments

PicoSureⓇ treatments send quick laser pulses to your skin’s problem areas to lift it and combat sagging. This treatment also does a great job at zapping brown spots.

5. Injectables

These solutions work faster than collagen building treatments. DysportⓇ is a neurotoxin that, when administered safely, softens forehead lines and wrinkles in your eye area. Dermal fillers such as RestylaneⓇ, JuvedermⓇ, RadiesseⓇ, and Sculptra™ add volume to sunken areas of your face and fill up facial folds. 

These options offer instant results and are long lasting — from 5-24 months, depending on the treatment. 

6. Skin treatment products

We offer Dr. Zein Obagi’s extraordinary ZOⓇ Skin Health product line. His treatments are a boon to your anti-aging regimen and brighten, exfoliate, and moisturize your skin, leaving it smooth, firm, and radiant. 

The trick to erasing sun damage and restoring beautiful, youthful skin is a happy marriage: innovative noninvasive treatments and superior skin care products.

Call our office to book a complimentary anti-aging consultation, or request one online through our website.