Skin damage from sunlight builds up with continued exposure, whether sunburn occurs or not. In addition to skin cancer and sunburn, other effects of the sun exposure can include wrinkling, premature aging and in time, an almost leathery like appearance of the skin.

UVA, UVB and UVC are the three different types of rays that our sun produces:

A IS FOR AGEING:
UVA rays penetrate through to the dermis of the skin causing long term cell damage, visible for wrinkles, sagging and ageing.

B IS FOR BURNING:
And cancer too for that matter. UVB rays are carcinogenic and are the cause of instant visible damage, such as sunburn and freckles as well as long term effects such as sun spots and melanomas.

C IS FOR CAUTION:
UVC rays have the potential to be extremely dangerous because of their intensity, but are filtered out by the stratosphere before they get to earth. They pose no real threat unless the ozone layer depletes sufficiently, but that’s another story!

UV Rays
UV or ultraviolet light is the portion of the sunlight spectrum that is particularly harmful to humans. The sun produces at least three types of UV rays being UVA, UVB and UVC. Our ozone layer filters UVC out, so only a negligible amount of UVC reaches the earth’s surface.

UVA, a long wavelength ray, is the predominant UV ray that reaches the earths surface can penetrate the skin and damage connective tissue at deeper levels, even if the skin’s surface feels cool. UVA causes damage to cellular membranes and DNA, and has been implicated in aging of the skin and the development of skin cancer.

It is responsible for some sun induced skin damage, but the actual sunburn is associated with the shorter ultraviolet wavelengths, known as ultraviolet B (UVB). Scientists believe that UVB rays are the primary cause of sunburn, premature aging of the skin, skin cancer, and other sun induced skin problems. It is important to limit exposure to both UVA and UVB.

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