Sun-damaged Skin: Photoaging, Signs, Causes & Treatment (2024)

What is photoaging?

Photoaging is the premature aging of your skin due to ongoing exposure to ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. Photodamage can come from natural UV radiation exposure from the sun or artificial UV light sources (tanning beds or sun lamps). UV exposure not only ages your skin more quickly than it naturally would, but can also increase your risk for skin cancer.

Photoaging is also called sun damage, solar damage, dermatoheliosis and photodamage.

What’s the difference between photoaging and chronological skin aging?

Chronological skin aging is the natural aging of your skin according to your age and your genetics. It’s not preventable. Photoaging is caused by a lifetime of UV radiation exposure, mostly from the sun. Photoaging causes DNA changes in the cells of your skin and can lead to cancer. If you take precautions, photoaging can be significantly reduced.

Can sun damage be reversed?

Once UV radiation changes your skin cells’ DNA, the DNA damage can’t be reversed. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t change the appearance of your skin. You can treat, reduce and/or repair the effects of sun-damaged skin. Treatments can remove spots and other skin discolorations, reduce wrinkles and fine lines, smooth out skin, stimulate new skin and collagen production — steps that improve the look, tone and quality of your skin.

Where is photoaging most visible?

Photoaging most commonly occurs in the most visible areas of your skin — on your face, neck, back of your hands, arms, legs and upper chest.

Who is at risk for skin damage from the sun?

Everyone is susceptible to sun-damaged skin. However, you’re more at risk for skin damage if you:

• Have a light skin tone.
• Have had skin cancer or have a family history of skin cancer, especially melanoma.
• Have many moles.
• Have freckles and burn before tanning.
• Have blue or green colored eyes, or blond, red or light brown hair.
• Live or vacation at high altitudes.
• Get intense sun exposure on weekends while spending weekdays mostly indoors.
• Spend a lot of time outdoors and/or at tanning salons, especially as a child or teenager.

Are people of color at risk for sun-damaged skin?

People of all skin tones are exposed to UV radiation. Exposure to UV radiation increases the risk of sun-damaged skin. However, people of color are less likely to get sunburned because they have more of the brown pigment, melanin, in their skin. Melanin helps protect against some of the sun’s damaging UV rays.

If you’re Black or have skin of color — even though you’re less likely to get sunburned — you can still experience damaged skin or get a sunburn, which could be painful and cause peeling.

There’s a relationship between sun exposure and risk of skin cancer in lighter-skinned people, but no relationship seems to exist between sun exposure and skin cancer in dark-skinned individuals. People of color who develop skin cancer develop it mostly on the palms of their hands or the soles of their feet and it’s often in late stage when diagnosed. More study is needed to determine skin cancer risks and the effectiveness of treatments in dark-skinned people.

Are there health conditions that increase your risk for sun-damaged skin?

You have an increased risk for skin damage if you:

• Have certain autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, or conditions that weaken your immune system, including HIV.
• Have had an organ transplant.
• Take medicines that weaken your immune system, including corticosteroids, biologics, monoclonal antibodies and calcineurin inhibitors. These medications treat a wide array of health conditions including arthritis, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer.
• Take medicines that make your skin more sensitive to sunlight, such as tetracycline and fluoroquinolone antibiotics, tricyclic antibiotics, the antifungal agent Griseofulvin®, oral contraceptives, cholesterol-lowering drugs and many others. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist if any of the medications you take make your skin more sensitive to sunlight.