Solutions for sun-aged skin

The healthy-looking girl next door with the freckles and sun-kissed skin may very well turn into the prematurely wrinkled woman who looks 10-20 years older than her actual age. Unfortunately, the sun is cruel to skin, and unless you are fanatical about putting on sunscreen and covering up, your facial skin usually ages rapidly.

Signs of sun-aged skin include:

• Rough blotchy skin
• Redness and leathery texture
• Small wrinkles around the eyes, mouth and forehead
• Deeper wrinkles around the mouth and on the cheeks
• Large pores
• Thickened areas of skin
• Dry flaky patches of skin

Don’t go from America’s sweetheart to America’s most wrinkled. If your skin is showing damage from years of enjoying outdoor activities without proper sunscreen application, you may feel downhearted and depressed about the look and feel of your skin. Don’t waste time feeling badly, instead look into the amazing products and procedures available today that can significantly alter your appearance and remove years from your face while restoring the healthy skin you once had prior to sun damage.

Are you wondering how to treat sun-damaged skin at home? Depending upon the extent of your skin damage, you may get some improvement in your skin from one of these products:

• Exfoliation creams or serums
• Home facial peels
• Vitamin A creams

Over the counter products will not make major improvements in sun-damaged skin, but they will improve the looks and texture of skin that’s been cooked to a leathery consistency. Besides improving texture, they can also even out skin tone which improves the overall look of your skin.

There are several ways that cosmetic surgery can improve sun-damaged skin. Deep exfoliation is obtained by chemical peels. These peels are able to alter the surface or your skin from rough and blotchy to smooth and even toned. They can also help with scarring, pitting or other visible damage to the outer layers of the skin. Intense pulsed light (IPL), lasers treatments and even dermal fillers are all effective in either removing damaged skin cells or plumping up wrinkles to give a much younger appearance to the skin.

No matter what condition your skin is in, start a skin protection system today. Even if your skin is showing sun damage now, it will continue to get worse unless you take the time to apply your sunscreen on a routine basis. Consider physical sunscreens too like hats, sunglasses and sun-blocking clothing to save your skin now and for the future.

Copyright 2012. As licensed to Dr. Hecht. All rights reserved