Billions are spent every year on beauty products that promise to remove wrinkles, lighten age spots, and eliminate itchiness, flaking, or redness. The easiest and cheapest way to keep your skin healthy and youthful is to avoid the sun.
Sunlight is the main cause of wrinkles, dryness and age spots. Your skin changes with age. For example, you sweat less, which leads to increased dryness. Aging skin becomes thinner and loses fat, making it look less plump and smooth. The underlying structures, especially the veins and bones, become more prominent. It may also take longer for your skin to recover if you are injured.
These changes can be drastically delayed by staying out of the sun. Although nothing can completely reverse sun damage, skin can sometimes repair itself. So it's never too late to protect yourself from the harmful effects of the sun.
5 ways to slow down the aging process:
1. Wear protective clothing. A wide-brimmed hat will shade your neck, ears, eyes and head. Look for sunglasses with a label that says the glasses block 99 to 100 percent of the sun's rays. Wear loose, light, long-sleeved shirts and long pants or long skirts in the sun.
2. Check your skin often. Look for changes in the size, shape, color, or feel of birthmarks, moles, and spots. If you notice any changes that worry you, see a doctor. The American Academy of Dermatology suggests that fair-skinned older people get an annual skin exam by a doctor as part of a regular physical exam.
3. Avoid artificial tanning. Do not use sun lamps and solariums, as well as tanning powders and tanning makeup. Tanning pills contain a dye that turns your skin orange when taken. The FDA has approved this dye for food coloring, but not for tanning skin. Large amounts of dye in tanning powders can be harmful. Sunscreen makeups are not suntan lotions and do not protect your skin from the sun.
4. Use sunscreen. Sunscreens are rated for strength by sun protection factor (SPF), which ranges from 2 to 30 or higher. A higher number means longer protection. Buy products with an SPF number of 15 or higher. Also, look for products that say on the label: broad spectrum (meaning they protect against both types of harmful sun rays (UVA and UVB) and water resistant (meaning they stay on the skin longer even if you get wet or sweat a lot). Remember to reapply lotion as needed.
5. Do not expose yourself to the sun. Avoid the sun between 10:00 and 15:00. That's when the sun's UV rays are strongest. Don't let the cloudy sky fool you. Harmful rays pass through the clouds. UV rays can also pass through water, so don't assume you're safe if you're in the water and feel fine.
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