Goodbye Sun Damage, Hello Glowing Skin – Learn How With Dr. Killion!

Thanks to Dr. Killion, one of Monarch’s plastic surgeons, for sharing some tips about how to bring back a bright glow to your skin! ✨ In her presentation, she walks you through how the sun’s rays actually damage your skin and what you can try to rejuvenate it if your skin has been dulled from years of sun exposure!

Get tips to glowing skin by downloading the presentation:

Photoaging & How to Counteract The Damage

What Sun Exposure Can Do To Your Skin 

First, let’s explain what photoaging is — According to the Dermatology Association, “Photoaging is premature aging of the skin caused by repeated exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV), primarily from the sun but also from artificial UV sources. Photoaging differs from chronological aging; the damaging effects of UV rays – from the sun or artificial tanning sources – alter normal skin structures.”

UV radiation we receive from the sun’s rays is the cause of photoaging, aka skin damage. Photoaged skin cells will have few cell layers, smaller cells, clusters of large melanocytes and hyperkeratosis. Melanocytes are what cause hyperpigmentation spots, or dark spots, on your skin while hyperkeratosis is responsible for dulling your once-glowing skin.

Vitamin A — A Key Player In Helping Your Skin 

One of the main ways to counteract the aging of your skin from sun exposure is vitamin A! It is a great option for a skincare topical treatment. If you’re looking for products that contain vitamin A, but you can’t find anything that says “vitamin A” specifically, skincare treatments also refer to it as retinol or tretinoin, so try searching for those names.

Vitamin A controls all the different phrases of our skin cells’ life spans, including growth, differentiation and maturation. When your skin is exposed to sun rays the ultraviolet radiation starts to strip vitamin A away.

When you add tretinoin in your skincare routine it can help to revise photoaging damage by 50-80%! What to learn more?

Tretinoin helps to increase the epidermal thickness (Type 1 collagen) and granular cell layers, which both help to decrease fine lines. It also decreases hyperpigmentation, which helps to get rid of dark spots. Last but not least, it compacts the stratum corneum (the outer layer of your skin), which will help brighten your complexion and give you glowing skin!

When To Use Retinoids?

The best time to get your skin routine refined? Quarantine! This is a great time to try out different serums while also letting your skin have time to become used to different products that will help it in the long run.  

When you first start using retinoids your skin will become irritated, but the reason behind this is very interesting. When you put retinoids on babies’ skin nothing will happen – this is because they do not have sun damage. But, when adults start using a retinoid, their skin often has a noticeable reaction. The greater your reaction, the more sun damage your skin has endured, which means you actually need a retinoid in your skin routine more.

If you have more questions about photoaging and what products would be ideal for you, visit our Instagram page and click the email button to contact our plastic surgeons. Don’t have an Instagram account? No worries! You can pop onto our Facebook page and send us a direct message with all your questions!