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| Articles : Cosmetic Surgery News : The dark side of the bright sun in the Gulf |
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Skin beauty is an essential element of overall beauty. Most experts believe that there is no beauty without beautiful skin.
We go to a great length of trouble and expense to treat our wrinkles, dark spots and acne. However, most treatments fail if we are not aware of the pervasive effect of sun exposure in the Gulf on his skin. We are not talking about sunbathing but about the insidious cumulative everyday accumulation of DNA radiation damage from five minutes here and five minutes there while driving, going to work, shopping or chauffeuring the kids. Tanning throughout history. In the 1930’s, a pale complexion used to be a sign of luxury and prosperity in contrast to the tanned farmers. However, with the increased frequency of people flying to the beaches for their vacations, tanning became a sign of wealth, success and beauty. Because of the increasing educational campaigns in the Western world regarding the relationship of sun damage and skin cancer, tanning is fast becoming a sign of ignorance rather than a sign of wealth or beauty. The new self tanning creams do not create the streaks that the older formulations caused and are an excellent substitute to sun tanning. Why sun exposure in the Gulf area is so dangerous. The closer we are to the equator, the more perpendicular the ultraviolet lights are as they penetrate the atmosphere, hence very little is reflected away by the atmosphere. Fifteen minutes of sun exposure in UAE equals one hour of exposure in Europe. Sun exposure and beautiful skin do not mix. White skin wrinkles with chronic sun exposure, whereas melanin rich Asian skin becomes full of blotches and dark spots upon sun exposure. Melanin is the pigment that gives the skin its color and is the natural sunscreen that protects us from sun. The skin also lose its elastin which gives the skin its snap back ability. The result is sagging skin of the face, neck arms and thighs. Sun exposure is responsible for 80% of the external factors causing skin aging with 10% resulting from smoking and the remaining 10% for all other factors combined such as lack of sleep, stress, poor nutrition and insufficient water intake. Sun exposure also contributes to the appearance of the unsightly blue and red spider veins in the thighs and the legs. Sunscreens: a false sense of security. Most sunscreens are chemicals that become much less effective when exposed to the heat in the shipping and storage environment of the Gulf or handbag where they belong. The expiration date on the bottle may be misleading since it refers to the environment found in Europe or North America not in your car in Dubai. The American Academy of Dermatology has therefore endorsed physical sunscreens that are heat resistant such as the transparent Zinc oxide (example is the Skinusa Safesun Z or other brands containing Titanium). There is no need to use a sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) higher than 30 as you would be adding significant chemicals to achieve the higher SPF numbers with negligible additional protection. How to protect your children. Children’s skin is very sensitive to sun damage. The damage is a ticking bomb that will explode 20-30 year later. I am not sure that it is safe to apply large amounts of chemicals (sunscreens) over children’s entire body as they can be absorbed. I recommend instead using sunscreen for the face and protecting the body with tightly knitted cotton cloth that should be changed when wet. Since the best heat resistant sunscreen can only provide 80% protection from the sun, it is best to avoid sun exposure before five PM (wait until your shade is taller than you). |
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