Photoaged skin
Seriously
photoaged skin is dry, deeply wrinkled, yellow and rough.
It may be marked with darkly pigmented or whitish spots,
which respectively show where levels of pigment are higher
or lower than normal. With increasing sun damage small
blood vessels in the dermis will become more obvious and
will form the red, finely branching, spider-like marks
('broken veins') that doctors call telangiectases.
These blood vessels are easily damaged, resulting in greater
fragility of the skin, with the development of spots called
purpura.
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Loss of elastic fibres around the blood vessels
of the lower lips and ears - areas especially sensitive
to chronic sun damage - may result in dilated veins. On
the other hand, in protected skin the vessels tend not
to be so dilated or damaged.
At its worst, skin that has been over-exposed
to the sun for many years looks like old leather.
Constant exposure to UVR over many years can result in
warty spots on the skin, called actinic keratoses.
These are found most often in people
with type I and type II skins, although even people with
type VI skins can develop them, and then only on the areas
of the skin exposed to the sun. The appearance of actinic
keratoses means that the skin has received far too much
sun and could develop a skin cancer eventually. |
