In the summer your skin can have a hard time. Most people’s skin is exposed to many hours of sunshine in the summer, which can cause the skin to dry out or burn. A tan can be a lot of fun, but it is also very important to continue to protect your skin from the sun.
What is harmful about sunlight?
Beautiful, sunny weather can be a lot of fun. The sun provides warmth and sunlight produces vitamin D, which makes people feel happier. As soon as it is sunny, almost everyone wants to go outside to enjoy the sun. Sunlight certainly has a positive effect on people, but it also has disadvantages. Sunlight can dry out and burn your skin, but it can also cause a lot of damage that you cannot immediately see from the outside. The harmful part of sunlight is UV radiation. If your skin is exposed to the sun for a long time, it can dry out and at some point this can lead to wrinkles and pigment spots that can no longer be repaired. Sunlight can also cause a lot of damage to the inside of the skin.
Change in the DNA
The energy of the UV radiation is absorbed into the skin. By absorbing energy through the skin, the DNA of the skin can change and this can cause all kinds of different abnormalities. The best known and most dangerous abnormality that this can cause is skin cancer. Of course, you don’t just get this, if the DNA in the skin is only slightly damaged, the skin can repair itself. If the DNA in a skin cell is seriously damaged, this skin cell will die.
In the case of the two aforementioned damage to the DNA, the skin will repair itself or the skin will die because the skin cell notices the damage to the DNA. If the DNA in a skin cell is damaged and the skin cell does not notice this damage, or the skin repairs itself incorrectly, it is possible that the DNA in that skin cell has been permanently changed. Such serious damage can cause this changed cell to divide uncontrollably and uninhibited; this is skin cancer.
Elastin fibers
UV radiation on the skin causes the elastin fibers in the skin to be broken down. The elastin fibers in the skin ensure that the skin remains supple and elastic. The effect of the sun on these fibers can be compared to placing an elastic band in the sun: it becomes completely dry and wrinkled and at a certain point it can no longer be stretched and even completely granulates.
How can you protect your skin from the sun?
Almost everyone wants to have a tan in the summer or all year round, but the risks of exposing the skin to the sun are often forgotten. If you don’t protect your skin properly from the sun, it can cause irreparable damage. Therefore, always make sure you protect your skin in the sun with a sunscreen with a factor. How high this factor should be depends on your skin type, how long you will be sunbathing and whether your skin is already used to the sun. The factor in a sunscreen ensures that UV radiation is blocked.
In addition to using sunscreen, it is always wise to avoid the bright midday sun and always wear a hat, cap or sunglasses when going out in the sun for an extended period of time.
Conclusion
The sun certainly has positive effects on people, vitamin D makes you feel happier and more energetic. Sunlight is certainly not bad, but it is if the skin is exposed to it for too long. The UV radiation from sunlight can cause the breakdown of the elastin fibers in the skin and damage the DNA in the skin cells. If you are going to be in the sun for an extended period of time, protect yourself well with sunscreen and wear a headgear. Always avoid the strong midday sun between 12 and 3 o’clock.
read more
- How does your tan last longer?
- How do wrinkles arise?
- The benefits of the tanning bed
