Sun Damage And The Meaning Of SPF

Sun damaged skin. The red area is where the man did not
apply sunscreen

If you want a beautiful skin throughout life, wear sunscreen at all times when you go outside. Exposure to sun causes redness of skin and the production of sunburn cells, but most importantly it causes wrinkling and changes in the texture of your skin. The skin loses collagen which gives it its elasticity. The exposed areas of our bodies such as face, hands and arms become thin, wrinkled, dry and inelastic, show spotty pigmentation. Also, the relationship between sunlight and skin cancer can not be overlooked.

We can feel infra-red radiation through temperature sensors in the skin, but we cannot feel ultraviolet radiation that causes damage to our skin. Therefore, we have to protect our skin by using a sunscreen.

Often people believe that they do not need protection on a cloudy day, but a thin stratus of clouds does not stop ultraviolet radiation from reaching the earth surface. A thin cover of clouds may attenuate only about 20% of the light.

What Does Sun Protection Factor or SPF Mean?

The term Sun Protection Factor (SPF) describing sunscreens indicates the relative increase in time to burn. If a person takes 20 minutes to redden without sunscreen, it takes him 200 minutes to redden with the use of a sunscreen of SPF 10. Reapplying the sunscreen does not extend his time to redden to another 200 minutes.