YoungYouCorp Rejuventation Center - Sunscreen & Skin Care Glossary

Sunscreen & Skin Care Glossary

DID YOU KNOW THAT...

If your skin were never exposed to the sun, you would get very few wrinkles. Studies indicate that more than 90 percent of aging is caused by the sun
As few as four visits a year to a tanning salon could quadruple your likelihood of getting skin cancer, such as melanoma. Most beds emit primarily UVA rays, which actually penetrate more deeply into the skin’s layers and cause more damage than UVB
The Langerhans cells, part of our body’s defense system against viruses, bacteria, and precancerous cells, are destroyed by the sun
Because the ozone layer has thinned, the sunlight to which we are exposed today is more intense than it was 20 years ago

Sun-Care Glossary

Here are some definitions of terms to help you better understand the language of sun protection:

Antioxidant: The fire extinguisher that diffuses, puts out, or takes the energy hit from free radicals (see below), sparing and protecting the surrounding skin cells from damaging free radicals. Some antioxidants are vitamins A, C, and E.

Free Radicals: When the skin is exposed to ultraviolet light, it forms high-energy molecules called free radicals, which cause damage to neighboring skin cells as these radical molecules discharge energy. Antioxidants can render the molecules harmless. By using products with antioxidants, you can help diminish any further harm to your skin.

SPF (Sun Protection Factor): SPFs range from 2 to 60. The number refers to the sunscreen’s ability to block out the sun’s harmful rays. The SPF amount indicates how much longer you can stay in the sun before getting a sunburn while wearing the sunscreen than you could without the protection. For example, if your unprotected skin normally burns in 10 minutes and you wear an SPF of 15, you are protected about 15 times longer, or for 150 minutes. Keep in mind that your skin’s burning time changes depending upon the strength of the sun each day.

Sunscreens: Sunscreens get into the skin and sit there like a line of defensemen. When ultraviolet rays hit the skin, the sunscreen grabs them and absorbs the dangerous energy before it gets into the skin cells.

Sunblocks: These sunscreen products block the ultraviolet light, causing it to reflect off the skin, so it never gets into the skin in the first place. Think of it as having a mirror sitting on the skin’s surface.

UVB Rays: Short-wave, intense ultraviolet light that radiates from the sun. UVB rays penetrate the skin, causing it to show a visible burn, which is the first warning sign you are getting too much sun. Most older sunscreens on the market protect only against UVB rays.

UVA Rays: Long-wave, intense ultraviolet rays that can deeply penetrate the skin, even through windows and loose-knit clothing. UVA rays cause sun damage (dryness, wrinkling, discoloration) to the skin and affect the production of collagen and elastin, which give skin its structure and firmness. Unlike the burn you get from UVB rays, the effects of UVA sun damage are not immediately apparent. Failure to block UVA accounts for why the dark spots on many women’s faces get worse, especially when they use a high SPF sunscreen, because the SPF blocks only the UVB.

UVC Rays: You don’t need to worry about the effects of UVC rays on your skin: these ultraviolet rays of sunlight never make it to earth; the ozone layer blocks them.

The Best Way To Use Sunscreen

It might seem simple, but you would be surprised how many people don’t know how to put on sunscreen correctly. This is how to do it:

Apply your sunscreen at least 20 minutes before sun exposure. This allows the sunscreen to fully absorb into the skin, completely readying the skin to screen out the first ultraviolet rays it encounters
Make sure to use enough sunscreen. One ounce of sunscreen (about one-fourth of most bottles) is adequate to cover all exposed skin. If you don’t use enough sunscreen, you won’t be able to achieve the SPF rating listed on the product’s bottle. In fact, if you use only a small amount of sunscreen, you’re likely to cut the SPF rating by half or more, reducing an SPF of 30 to an SPF of 20 or 15, which are still acceptable. However, when a 15 SPF effectively drops to a seven or eight, it may not provide enough protection, especially for people with very fair or sensitive skin
Follow this rule of thumb: even if the label says the product is “waterproof,” “sweatproof,” or “long-lasting,” still reapply it every two hours you stay out in the sun
You must reapply sunscreen immediately after exercising or swimming. Despite manufacturers’ claims that certain products are waterproof or sweatproof, no sunscreen is completely sweatproof or waterproof
You also need to apply sunscreen frequently if you participate in outdoor activities, such as tennis, golf, sailing, gardening, horseback riding, etc.
Don’t make the mistake of using sunscreen as an excuse to lie out in the sun for long periods of time. No matter how much sunscreen you use, you can wind up with more sun damage this way than you would had you lain in the sun for just a short period and gone inside before you started to burn. Sunscreen can be misused by allowing you to stay out for such extended periods of time without early sighs of burning that you can end up with ultraviolet damage without realizing it
Throw out your sunscreen after one year, the lifespan of any sunscreen/sunblock product

Save Your Skin

The key to sun protection could lie in nature and nutrition. Here are some of the latest findings:

Beta Carotene: In the 1950’s, researchers found if they added beta carotene to the diets of humans with a genetic disorder that caused them to burn in the sun, they were able to stay out longer without getting burned.
Certain carotenoids (including lycopene and beta carotene) have the ability to increase communication of growth-regulatory signals between cells, which can help prevent damaged cells from becoming cancerous. Still, beta carotene is not yet a replacement for standard sun protection.

Pycnogenol: This French maritime pine-bark extract may be one of the most promising discoveries in the fight against skin cancer. It contains a composite of approximately 40 natural ingredients, including proanthocyanidans, organic acids, and other biologically active components. It works to support the circulatory system by neutralizing the free radicals that attack the body’s cells inhibiting proteolytic enzymes, such as collagenase and elastase, which degrade connective tissue.

Vitamin E: Researchers are examining another potent antioxidant, vitamin E, for its role in sun protection. After UVB irradiation, it appears that the vitamin E concentration in the skin decreases, apparently in response to the increased oxidative stress caused bye the free radicals generated by the UV light. Research shows that adding vitamin E to the skin after UV exposure helps the skin to fight sun damage.

Vitamin C: Vitamin C helps neutralize UV-exposure-induced free radicals, which damage collagen, elastin, and other support structures. Free radicals are also thought to produce DNA mutations that can lead to skin cancer. L-ascorbic acid is a water-soluble form of vitamin C thought to help protect skin against UV exposure. A topical formulation was patented by Sheldon Pinnell, M.D., professor of dermatology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. Pinnell found that L-ascorbic acid applied to the skin before UV exposure could prevent UV-induced immune suppression, which keeps the skin from fighting mutant cells that could turn into skin cancer. Several sunscreen products containing L-ascorbic acid are now on the market.

From "Beautiful Skin" by David E. Bank, M.D., with Estelle Sobel

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