Photoaging

Pho­to­aging is pre­ma­tu­re age­ing of the skin cau­sed by sun­light. The main cau­se is UV radia­ti­on, with visi­ble light and infrared radia­ti­on also play­ing a part. It main­ly affects are­as that are con­stant­ly expo­sed, such as the face, neck, décol­le­ta­ge and backs of the hands.

Appli­ca­ti­on

UV radia­ti­on gene­ra­tes oxi­da­tive stress, dama­ges DNA and acti­va­tes enzy­mes that break down col­la­gen. Typi­cal signs include coar­se wrink­les, a lea­thery, thi­c­ke­ned skin tex­tu­re, pig­men­ta­ti­on, bro­ken veins and loss of ela­s­ti­ci­ty. Pho­to­aging is distinct from intrin­sic skin age­ing, which is gene­ti­cal­ly deter­mi­ned and also occurs on pro­tec­ted are­as of the body.

Good to know

A lar­ge share of visi­ble facial age­ing is attri­bu­ted to sun­light. Dai­ly broad-spec­trum sun pro­tec­tion is the key pre­ven­ti­ve mea­su­re. Exis­ting sun dama­ge can be sof­ten­ed with reti­no­ids, peels or laser tre­at­ments. Sun-dama­ged skin should also be che­cked regu­lar­ly for pre­can­ce­rous lesi­ons such as acti­nic keratoses.

Matching tre­at­ment at Swiss Der­ma Cli­nic: Light dama­ge to the skin