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Photo-aging or Premature Aging

Over time, skin ages and loses its youthful appearance. Wrinkles appear around the eyes, fine lines bloom around the lips, and age spots surface on the hands. While some of these factors are natural and unavoidable, many of them are a result of cumulative exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

Photo-aging is the superimposition of photo damage on intrinsically aged skin generally bringing about premature aging. This specific damage occurs by chronic (multiple) exposure of the skin to UV light.

Clinically, the skin becomes coarse; epidermis thickens (hyperplasia) initially and then thins (atrophy), there is laxity, sallowness with wrinkles, irregular hyperpigmentation, lentigines, and telangiectasias. The pores of the skin appear larger, filled with horny material. In severely damaged skin, there is loss of epidermal polarity (orderly maturation) and individual keratinocytes may show atypia, especially the lower epidermal layers. More profound changes occur in the dermis, where photodamage is characterized by degeneration of collagen and deposition of abnormal elastotic material, reflected by wrinkles, furrows, and yellow discoloration of the skin. The greater the photodamage, the more the accumulation of thickened, tangled and degraded elastic fibers.

Ways to Prevent Photo-aging

The best way to combat photo aging is through prevention.

If more advanced methods are needed, a visit to the cosmetic dermatologist can offer safe and effective noninvasive options that will reduce photoaging with little downtime.

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