Lately, awareness of applying sunscreen before going out in daylight has increased. Besides preventing sunburn, applying sunscreen is functional as well for the long-term effect; lowering the risk of skin cancer, preventing hyperpigmentation, and slowing down signs of aging skin to show.
Dull skin which looks so tired, fine lines & wrinkles, and uneven skin tone like hyperpigmentation are the showing signs of unprotected sun-overexposed skin condition or known as photoaging. Not only happen in the elderly, photoaging can occur at the '20s.
What's Photoaging?
In brief, photoaging is premature skin aging caused by overexposure to sun rays or UV. The symptoms of photoaging are wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, dryness, dull, and visible spider veins (telangiectasia).
The Cause of Photoaging
Actually, the process of aging skin has two factors. The first is the internal factors, the natural aging process which occurs due to time pass. On the other hand, photoaging happens due to external factors, triggered by many things. Moreover, the severity level of photoaging varies, depending on the degree of sun exposure and the amount of melanin in the individual's skin.
Not limited by sun exposure only, dull and photoaging skin can be worsened by:
1. Dehydration
Skin quality can be affected directly if you neglect your daily water intake. When the body experiences dehydration, vital organs such as the liver, brain and lungs cannot work properly, including collagen, the primary protein in the skin will stop receiving water when our body is low on water. Further, when collagen does not get its fulfilment, the skin starts to dry and crack, forming wrinkles and dullness.
2. Accumulation of dead skin cells
Dryness, dull, and uneven skin could be a sign of a build-up of dead skin cells that aren't blown away as they should. Dead skin cells form when you do not cleanse your skin correctly or rarely do skin exfoliation.
3. Bad Environment and Lifestyle
Environmental factors such as air pollution, low humidity, strong winds, and exposure to UV rays can cause skin to become dull. Also, smoking and alcohol consumption can cause collagen breakdown.
The Harmful Effect of Sun Exposure
As already mentioned, the sun is a major contributor to photoaging. In fact, the sun has three UVR waves, namely UVC, UVB and also UVA.
UVC radiation is almost completely absorbed by the ozone layer, therefore, UVC will not affect the skin. While the others, UVB is possible to affect the superficial layer of the skin (epidermis) which leads sunburn to skin cancer. Furthermore, UVA, although it has less energy, according to research, UVA is able to penetrate the deepest layers of the skin to cause more severe and significant damage such as photoaging conditions.
Studies show that excessive exposure to UV radiation without protection (sunblock) can reduce skin proteins that play an important role in skin elasticity, moisture, and firmness. This condition more or less causes a lack of collagen in the body which results in a rough texture and wrinkles on the skin. Not only that, to protect ourselves from UV exposure, our skin will naturally produce more melanin. Thus, the over-stimulation will lead to the formation of hyperpigmentation such as sunspots and melasma.
How to Prevent and Treat Photoaging?
The prevention of photoaging, dull skin, and premature aging can be said to be neither easy nor difficult. It starts from implementing a healthy lifestyle such as drinking enough water, managing stress well, having enough sleep, avoiding excessive alcohol consumption and smoking.
In addition, there are many ways to prevent and treat photoaging and dull skin, such as:
Applying sunscreen or sunblock
It is clear that the sun or ultraviolet rays greatly affect the quality of the skin. Therefore, wearing a sunscreen at least consists 30 SPF is the easiest thing to do to ward off the harmful rays of the sun. Not only protects the skin from UV, sunscreen is also able to prevent other skin problems in the future.
Applying brightening cream
If the skin already looks dull and uneven, you need to research and find out what cream suits your skin's needs. Otherwise, you can simply consult your skin conditions with a dermatologist in order to get a safe and effective ingredients to solve the concern.
Do Art Peel treatment regularly
The build-up of dead skin cells is undeniably one of the masterminds of dull skin and uneven color. Therefore, it is necessary to have an Art Peel treatment by a professional to restore the freshness of your skin. Moreover, peeling treatment at IORA is able to smoothen the skin, reduce fine lines, and also fade away the dark spots.
Take Pico White laser treatment
Desire to take back your radiant skin in 1 session of treatment? Pico White at IORA Clinic is the right answer. Expertly designed, Pico White laser is able to break down into the smallest pigments without scars and downtime. It takes only 15 minutes, the light-based energy could brighten dull skin, reduce hyperpigmentation, and smoothen the rough texture in 1 session.
