Exposure to the sun's rays is absolutely necessary for the life of all living beings on our planet. However, everything is good in moderation, and an excess of ultraviolet radiation can become very harmful and even dangerous for humans. One of the negative effects of ultraviolet radiation is the processes of photoaging of the skin. In order to protect yourself from the negative effects of sunlight, you need to know which methods to use. In an exclusive interview for estet-portal.com, a dermatovenereologist at the Faculty of Medicine of the Tbilisi Medical Academy, Professor Mekokishvili Lali spoke about effective methods of protecting against photoaging of the skin.
How do photoaging processes occur in the human body?
Photoaging is a term that was coined in the 20th century because it was noticed that people who work outdoors have deeper wrinkles. We will not talk about the human body, we will talk about the human skin, because it is the skin that is exposed to sunlight.
Skin photoaging – this is just accelerated painful and ugly aging, when natural aging processes are accelerated under the influence of sunlight, and when a person looks much older than he really is.
And the severity of photoaging depends on the so-called phototype. Fair-skinned people are more exposed to UV radiation, and dark-skinned people have natural protection and therefore age 10 years later than fair-skinned people.
What is skin photoaging management?
Modern management of photoaging of the skin implies mandatory prevention, this is the first step. First of all, you need to assess the situation, that is, to see what problems the patient has and how he is set up for treatment. There are different methods of treatment, and sometimes they depend on the pocket of the patient, therefore, he must be prepared for everything, and decisions about treatment measures depend on what the doctor suggests and on what the patient responds. Modern management is as follows: you need to determine the severity of the disease, make photo documentation, and then a treatment plan is adopted. If there is a disease of a milder degree, then we can limit ourselves to the same methods that we use in chronological aging. That is, if the patient is somewhere from 30 to 35 years old, you can limit yourself to botulinum toxin, fillers, and if a more severe form, then there are ablative methods. These are already instrumental methods, when you have to resort to laser methods of treatment and so on.
Is there any medical treatment for photoaging of the skin?
The fact is that, from the point of view of evidence-based medicine, there is a list of medicines that have proven their activity for correcting photoaging of the skin. These are, first of all, the so-called retinoids. They are derivatives of vitamin A, and can act not only at the level of the epidermis, but also at the level of the dermis. They can correct the processes that accompany photoaging, but the fact is that they need to be applied constantly. Fortunately, there are forms of topical, that is, local application, which are available in different concentrations. And so low concentrations can be used throughout life, and they can not only correct, but also maintain the effect of correction.
What is the prevention of skin photoaging?
The cause of the disease itself – it is solar radiation. We know that sunbathing is very fashionable now, everyone wants to sunbathe, but there are even people who sunbathe just non-stop, day and night, artificially and naturally. In this case, they need to explain to them that there is a serious conflict between the fashion to sunbathe, and between having a young and smooth skin.
Some measure must be observed, because everyone understands that the sun is associated with relaxation, it is the elixir of our life, we all love it, but we must understand its dark sides.
And how can you protect yourself from the sun – This, of course, in primarily, clothes. You also need to limit your exposure to the sun if you are on the sea, or in the mountains, or during the snowy period, because the snow reflects the sun's rays, and there the radiation is much greater. It is necessary to apply sunscreens, which come with varying degrees of photoprotection. You have to look at the label to make sure it says that this sunscreen doesn't just protect against UVB radiation. You have to remember that the so-called SPF – this is an indicator of protection against ultraviolet B radiation, although photoaging is not caused by ultraviolet B rays, but by ultraviolet A rays. Therefore, you should take a good look to see if it says that this cream protects against UV-B and also UV-A.
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