Spring is a season that makes people “happy” let people “worried”. The joy is that the spring flowers, spring is bright, stimulating the excitement of many people to play; worry is that the bright spring sun can also make the skin very hurt, even more lethal than the hot summer sun. Recently, many people went to the dermatology department due to itchy, dry, rough, red and swollen skin, and many of these people have skin diseases due to sun exposure.
The prevalence of skin diseases in spring is not always caused by pollen allergies; the damage to the skin caused by ultraviolet light cannot be ignored. Currently, there is evidence that more and more skin problems are caused by UV rays, and many people are intolerant to UV rays in the sun and are allergic to them, with the spring sun being particularly likely to cause skin problems.
Why spring is more likely to be sunburned
The UV content of the sun is lowest in winter, but when spring comes, the amount of UV exposure rises suddenly, and people are less aware of UV protection, the skin cannot adapt to the sudden changes, the skin barrier is not in full gear to cope with the dazzling sunlight, and the dry climate makes it difficult for the skin to effectively resist UV rays, resulting in many skin problems. In spring, people like to be outdoors, and if they do not do their homework on skin defense before going on a trip, then the sun is very likely to cause damage to the skin.
Sunlight can bring a series of benign and malignant skin diseases
What are the common skin diseases that the sun can bring? Sunburn, polymorphic sun rash, chronic actinic dermatitis, photoaging, solar keratosis, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, malignant melanoma, etc.
Young people should pay attention to the skin aging caused by light
Although young people are reminded that “face” is very important, at any cost to buy high-grade cosmetics and beauty, but do not know that ultraviolet light can continue to damage and eat people’s skin health, young people do not protect against ultraviolet damage, as early as the appearance of photoaging.
Photoaging is different from natural skin aging, it is due to long-term skin damage caused by ultraviolet radiation in the sun, manifested as rough skin, thickening, sagging, deep and thick wrinkles, excessive local pigmentation or capillary dilation. UV damage to the skin is cumulative and can lead to a skin barrier that cannot effectively resist external aggressions and long-term development or even various benign or malignant skin tumors (e.g. heliokeratosis, squamous cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, etc.).
The occurrence of photoaging can be delayed and prevented through skin health guidance and appropriate care, and it can also be treated and reversed through some emerging medical treatments.
Middle-aged and elderly people should not take facial “age spots” lightly
We remind middle-aged and elderly people not to take the so-called “age spots” on the face lightly, because there are “seborrheic keratosis” and “solar keratosis” as dark brown or black patches or plaques on the face of elderly people. “The former is a benign proliferative lesion, while the latter is a precancerous lesion that can further develop into squamous skin cancer. People who are not generally qualified as professional dermatologists cannot distinguish the two.
Seborrheic keratosis.
The seborrheic keratosis, also known as senile warts or “longevity spots”, is a kind of benign epidermal tumor common in middle-aged and elderly people, mainly occurring in the face and neck or distributed throughout the body, manifesting as a well-defined light brown spot, which later deepens in color and bulges into warty growth, without conscious symptoms, because of the slow course of the disease, rarely malignant, may be treated or followed up. It can be treated or followed up if necessary.
Actinic keratosis
Actinic keratosis is a pre-cancerous lesion that occurs mainly on the head and face. The lesions also appear as brown keratotic patches, covered with crusts or superficial ruptures that cannot be easily peeled off. Most of the lesions are single or multiple, and most of them have no conscious symptoms, so people do not pay attention to them and relax their vigilance. Therefore, if the above-mentioned damage grows too fast or even breaks down, it indicates that there is a possibility of deterioration, and timely medical consultation and active treatment are required.
Because seborrheic keratosis and solar keratosis are very similar in terms of clinical manifestations, it is easy for inexperienced people to confuse them and classify them as “age spots”; because the damage is neither painful nor itchy, they are not taken seriously and left unattended. Because solar keratosis is a malignant lesion, it is important to distinguish between the two diseases and not to mistake solar keratosis for age spots, which will bring more health hazards if it turns into squamous carcinoma.
If solar keratosis can be clearly diagnosed at an early stage and receive regular treatment in time, it can be completely cured and no squamous carcinoma will occur. Therefore, for “age spots” on the face of middle-aged and elderly people, it is necessary to go to the dermatology department of a regular medical institution to have a health check-up for their skin through clinical identification, tissue biopsy or photodynamic fluorescence diagnosis by professional doctors.
Strategies to prevent sun damage in spring
Based on the health hazards posed by the sun, non of us suggest some springtime sun protection and disease prevention strategies that will help us raise awareness and avoid UV damage in the spring.
Strategy 1: Avoid overexposure to the sun
Avoid prolonged and excessive exposure to the sun. People who are prone to photo-allergy should pay more attention to less sun exposure, such as those who have had solar dermatitis and seasonal dermatitis in the past, wear long-sleeved clothes when going out, hold a parasol, and use buildings and shade trees to avoid direct sunlight.
Strategy 2: Apply sunscreen before going out
Sunscreen is a beneficial tool to prevent UV damage to the skin, but found that many people complain that sunscreen is not effective, which may have three problems, one is the wrong time to apply sunscreen, the second is the wrong choice of sun protection factor, the third is the amount of sunscreen applied too little.
(1) Sunscreen should be applied 20 minutes before sun exposure
It takes about 20 minutes for the sunscreen to penetrate the epidermal stratum corneum of the skin, however, many people think of applying sunscreen before they leave home, and the skin may have been sunburned by UV rays in the first 20 minutes before the sunscreen takes effect, so it appears that the sunscreen is not effective.
(2) The sunscreen factor is not chosen correctly
Some people only have a bottle of sunscreen, but the sunscreen sun protection index (SPF) is different, there is SPF15, there is also SPF30. choose sunscreen index according to their own environment, to specific circumstances, specific analysis, moderate changes in the use. If the sun is usually only on the way to and from work, and most of the work is indoors, then choose SPF15 sunscreen; if you go out to play, have been in the outdoor environment, the sun for a long time should choose SPF30 sunscreen; if the summer outdoor or beach swimming, you must use SPF30 sunscreen or more. Therefore, the incorrect choice of sun protection factor may also cause sunburn. In addition, sunscreen can not be applied only once a day, need to be added every few hours.
Strategy three: cosmetics need to be chosen carefully
For people with sensitive skin and poor barrier function, it is advisable to use cosmetics that are concise in formulation, do not contain pigments, fragrances, preservatives and surfactants, are less irritating to the skin, feel comfortable for external use, have a certain sunscreen index, and are suitable for patients with poorly tolerated skin.
Strategy 4: daily bathing with care
Spring is not very hot, from the skin care, you can reduce the number of daily bathing, too much bathing will take away the skin’s oil, damage the skin barrier, so wash your face twice a day in the morning and evening is enough, bathing can be washed every other day or every few days, reduce the use of facial cleansers, body wash, avoid over-hot water washing and shampoo from the face. Wash your face and shower well and also apply moisturizer in time to protect your skin.
Strategy 5: Eat less photosensitive foods
Some foods can induce inflammation,, common photosensitive foods are marjoram, snow lettuce, rape, celery, fava beans, spinach, lettuce, figs, and snails, crabs, mussels and other seafood foods should be eaten as little as possible or not.
Strategy six: hair dye allergy should not be ignored
Hair dyes contain a variety of chemicals and photosensitive substances that can cause direct allergy to the head and face or allergic reactions after sun exposure, so people with facial problems or prone to allergies should stay away from or not use hair dyes as much as possible. Some underlying allergic factors or delayed allergic reactions are responsible for many lasting allergic reactions on the face.
It is important to choose medication to treat skin disorders
Finally, although skin care products are usually used to maintain our skin, once the use of skin problems, you should stop using any skin care products, do not arbitrarily use “local”, “test prescription”, to go to the regular medical institutions, under the guidance of doctors The reason for the problem should be analyzed and the right medicine should be used. In addition, Professor Wang told reporters that hormones in the treatment of skin diseases is a double-edged sword, the reasonable use of hormones under the guidance of doctors can quickly control the disease, so that patients get rid of the disease early. If you use hormones on your own, it may cause intractable hormone-dependent dermatitis due to improper use of medication. Of course, in addition to hormonal medications, there are many other non-hormonal treatments and methods, all of which need to be carried out under the guidance of a dermatologist.
In conclusion, we should pay attention to the damage caused by UV rays to the skin, and we should protect ourselves from the sun in spring as well as in summer. While we enjoy the sunshine that nature has given to us, we should also let our skin shine with a healthy glow.