Sun-Damaged Skin

Although most people love the warmth and light of the sun, too much sun exposure can significantly
damage human skin. The sun's heat dries out areas of unprotected skin and depletes the skin's supply of
natural lubricating oils. In addition, the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation can cause burning and long-term
changes in the skin's structure.

The most common types of sun damage to the skin are:

Dry skin — Sun-exposed skin can gradually lose moisture and essential oils, making it appear dry, flaky
and prematurely wrinkled, even in younger people.

Sunburn — Sunburn is the common name for the skin injury that appears immediately after the skin is
exposed to UV radiation. Mild sunburn causes only painful reddening of the skin, but more severe cases
can produce tiny fluid-filled bumps (vesicles) or larger blisters.

Actinic keratosis — This is a tiny bump that feels like sandpaper or a small, scaly patch of sun-damaged
skin that has a pink, red, yellow or brownish tint. Unlike suntan markings or sunburns, an actinic
keratosis does not usually go away unless it is frozen, chemically treated or removed by a doctor. An
actinic keratosis develops in areas of skin that have undergone repeated or long-term exposure to the
sun's UV light, and it is a warning sign of increased risk of skin cancer. About 10% to 15% of actinic
keratoses eventually change into squamous cell cancers of the skin.

Sun-Damaged Skin

Long-term changes in the skin's collagen (a structural protein) — These changes include photoaging
(premature aging of the skin because of sun exposure) and actinic purpura (bleeding from fragile blood
vessels beneath the skin surface). In photoaging, the skin develops wrinkles and fine lines because of
changes in the collagen of a deep layer of the skin called the dermis. In actinic purpura, UV radiation
damages the structural collagen that supports the walls of the skin's tiny blood vessels. Particularly in
older people, this collagen damage makes blood vessels more fragile and more likely to rupture
following a slight impact.

Over a lifetime, repeated episodes of sunburn and unprotected sun exposure can increase a person's
risk of malignant melanoma and other forms of skin cancer. As a rule, if you have fair skin and light eyes,
you are at greater risk of sun-related skin damage and skin cancers. This is because your skin contains
less of a dark pigment called melanin, which helps to protect the skin from the effects of UV radiation.

Symptoms

Sun-damaged skin shows the following symptoms:

Dry skin — The skin appears dry, flaky and slightly more wrinkled than skin on other parts of your body
that have not been exposed to the sun. Dry skin is also one of the most common causes of itching.

Sunburn — Mild sunburn causes pain and redness on sun-exposed skin. In most cases, there are clear
boundary lines where the skin has been protected from the sun by shirt sleeves, shorts, a bathing suit or
other clothing. More severe cases of sunburn produce painful blisters, sometimes together with nausea
and dizziness.

Actinic keratosis — An actinic keratosis appears as a small bump that feels like sandpaper or a persistent
patch of scaly (peeling) skin that may have a jagged or even sharp surface and that has a pink, yellow,
red or brownish tint. At first, an actinic keratosis may be the size of a pimple. Rarely, an actinic keratosis
may itch or be slightly tender.

Long-term changes in the skin's collagen — Symptoms of collagen changes include fine lines, deeper
wrinkles, a thickened skin texture and easy bruising on sun-exposed areas, especially the back of the
hands and forearms.

Diagnosis

In most cases, your doctor can confirm that you have sun-damaged skin simply by examining the area.
Often, a biopsy is done to rule out skin cancer in a patch of actinic keratosis. In a biopsy, a small piece of
skin is removed and examined in a laboratory.