Facial Lines and Wrinkles 2

The skin is the largest organ in the body and is our first line of defense during every hour of the day. Some of the defense is passive i.e. as a physical barrier to chemicals or to be abraded when we have a fall. The skin also senses other attacks such as stings and bites from insects or certain chemicals i.e. the well-known rash caused by certain metallic body piercings containing nickel.

In the case of attack by radiation such as ultraviolet A+B, both of which actually hit targets of living tissue underneath the skin surface, the skin’s only inherent defence is melanin, the brown/black pigmented layer close to the surface which can absorb these wavelengths of light. Some skins have it (melanin), some skins form it with repeated sun exposure and some skins never really form it i.e. the typically pale Celtic skin type. This is the skin type that really has to be cared for by its owner in the harsh Australian sun.

Ultraviolet light damages living cells by damaging the genetic material in the nucleus of the cell. This causes cells to replicate into damaged cells. Damaged cells are not good at producing the collagen which gives the skin it’s firmness and suppleness. The collagen becomes more erratic and fractured and causes the typical ridges and lines seen in sun damaged skin.

This damage is patrolled and destroyed by the skin’s immune system. Some damage escapes the immune patrol and develop into actinic keratoses (spots of sun-damaged skin).This damage shows as reddish, roughened spots and are usually treated by your doctor with only “freezing” by liquid nitrogen.

These damaged spots are believed to eventually develop into squamous and basal cell carcinomas, both of which usually need surgical removal. There are many individuals in our community who bear the scars of sun damage or the surgical scars needed to keep the sun cancers in check.  

One of the most dramatic examples of cumulative sun damage to the skin is to be had when a 40+ year old Australian wanders the streets of a major Western European city i.e. Paris, France or London, England. It is immediately evident that their lower lifetime sun exposure leaves Western Europeans with far better preserved skins.

Australian doctors have the dubious distinction of being foremost in the world at diagnosing and treating sun-related skin cancers (it’s because of our patients!).

Read Facial Lines and Wrinkles 1