When it comes to ageing, we always feel young inside, but the outside is crumbling.
And this photograph is a scary example of both, published by The New England Journal of Medicine. The 69-year-old man had been a truck driver for 28 years and sun consistently burned him on one side of his face through the window glass. I can actually see this type of damage on my right arm from all the years of my right arm sticking out of the window (South Africa drives on the left). My right arm has sunspots and my left arm has none.
Here’s the thing. I have used sunblock on my face every day for the last 29 years. My skin is very fair and I freckle. Sunblock does NOT stop freckles. My skin looks great, but I still have freckles. Large freckles are often considered to be “brown” or “age” spots even when they show up in your twenties.
Sun exposure is really nasty for the skin. When we talk about sun exposure we don’t only allude to sunbathing but simply being exposed to the sun rays when walking to the shops or gardening. If it is sunny then the danger is high. But even on a cloudy day, the sun rays attack our skin. So wearing a sun cream with a high SPF (50+ UVA and UVB) in a large quantity (a teaspoon on the face, neck and ears minimum) and reapplying every 2 hours when outdoors or every 4 hours indoors) is a way to protect the skin.
I have been wearing sunscreen 7 days a week every single day for the past 8 years and I can say that I have no dark spots or damaged skin.
On top of avoiding skin cancer, protecting properly our skin is also a way of reducing dark spots, sagging and wrinkles. So the benefits are important.
I totally agree. I think most of my damage comes from the daily exposure in Africa. I wish more people realised how damaging the sun is for your skin.