Hi — and welcome back to Hull Dermatology & Aesthetics where we take pride in educating our patients about what they purchase for their skin care needs. Being a medical spa, Hull Aesthetics goes deep into sun protection with a vast selection of sunscreens to best meet your skin type as well as your outdoor/indoor protection needs.
One in five Americans will develop skin cancer during their lifetime, making it the most common form of cancer in the country. To lower the risk, we turn to sunscreens like lotions, sprays, even powders to protect our skin from the worst of the suns effects. With the controversy about what sunscreens do or do not do, let’s get a little scientific on what it is we are actually protecting our skin from and why sunscreen is so important.
We all know that ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun can cause damage to your skin and are a main cause of dark spots, fine lines and wrinkles, loss of skin elasticity and other signs of photoaging. UVB rays are what cause the painful sunburns, and not to mention, skin cancer. What you might not know is that UV light only accounts for 3-5 percent of what reaches us from the sun. The rest is made up of infrared (IR or IRA) rays, which make up a whopping 55 percent of the light that hits your skin every day.
Most of the natural UV light people encounter comes from the sun; however, only about 10 percent of sunlight is UV and only about one-third of this penetrates the atmosphere to reach the ground. Of the solar UV energy that reaches the equator, 95 percent is UVA and 5 percent is UVB.
IRA rays penetrate skin more deeply than either UVA or UVB rays, passing through the epidermis and dermis into the subcutaneous layer. Since so much infrared energy comes into contact with your skin every day, sunscreens that offer infrared protection are the best defense against sunburn, premature photoaging and skin cancer.
So, visit me at The Skin Solution located at Hull Aesthetics in Rogers where together we can meet your skin goals because we are YOUR skin solution.
