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Posts Tagged ‘sun damage’

Help Educate Your Middle School Age Children about the Sun with a Free UV Photograph

Monday, May 11th, 2009

It’s that time of year again when kids get outside to enjoy their summer vacations and parents are faced with the challenge of trying to get them to wear sunscreen. Well, now there may be help to win the battle of sun education and skin protection with our children.

As reported in HealthDay, the Journal of Dermatology Nurses’ Association studied the impact of lecturing 111 middle school children (ages 11-13) on sun protection. In addition to the lecture, they provided 83 of those children with an ultraviolet photograph of their face revealing and explaining their present sun damage. The other 28 children attended the lecture, but did not receive a photograph. After six months, 51 percent of the group who received a photograph reported having had a sunburn, compared to 64 percent in the group with no photograph taken. While these sunburn rates are still way too high, it is important to note that the students with the most facial freckles (and thus at greater risk for skin cancer) were very impacted by their photo and were significantly less likely to report a burn.

If you have middle school age sons or daughters and would like an ultraviolet photograph taken of them to help explain the risks of sun damage, please call our office. We have the Reveal photography system and will gladly take a photo free of charge. It is my hope that these photos will educate children about the sun and encourage them to prevent sunburns for healthy skin now and in the future!

 

Helping Hands

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

In general, people are now in the habit of using some form of sunscreen on their face each day to protect their skin from sun damage.  Hands are another story.

Patients often complain that their hands either “give away” their age or they seem prematurely aged compared to the rest of their skin.  Our hands are constantly exposed to environmental elements like water and temperature and they receive a tremendous amount of sun.  Yet knowing all the abuse our hands endure, they are often overlooked when it comes to skin care and sun protection.  Wrinkles, brown spots and precancerous lesions on hands can nearly all be attributed to sun and UV ray exposure.  Also, the skin on the hands is thin, so further breakdown of its collagen by UV rays causes it to become even thinner more quickly than other body parts.  Not only does this effect its texture, but aging and unattractive veins and tendons can show right through!

So, what can be done for these under cared for extremities?  First of all, prevention is key.  Keep a tube of moisturizing sunblock in your purse or carry all and apply often, especially after washing.  We recommend sunblocks with at least an SPF 15 that contain some zinc or titanium dioxide (physical blocks that do not degrade as quickly).  This will keep your hands from being dry and keep them consistently protected.  Consider keeping a pair of gloves in your car and slipping them on before you hit the road.  This will keep the sun off your hands when holding the steering wheel, especially for long car rides.  Treat the skin on your hands with anti-aging and collagen building products.  This is usually easiest at bedtime when you are washing your hands less frequently.  We will often recommend that patients use Retin-A mixed with a bleaching cream to lighten brown spots and build collagen.  Use caution with any products on your hands as the skin can become irritated more easily.  Ask a professional for proper instructions with any product.

There are many treatment options available to help reverse damage on the hands.  Chemical peels and lasers are very effective in making your skin look less spotted and wrinkled.  Fillers can also be used to plump up the skin on the hands and help reduce the appearance of veins.  Please contact our office for more details.  In the meantime, be good to your hands, they deserve it!

 

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