May 16, 2023

With the official start of Summer just a few weeks away and outdoor activities increasing, it’s important to keep your skin protected from harmful UV rays. While all rays are capable of damaging your skin, the most commonly talked about rays are UVA and UVB. UVA rays can penetrate your skin more deeply, causing sunspots and premature aging, while UVB rays typically damage the outermost layers of your skin, which cause sunburn, and are the cause of most skin cancers.

Most people know how important it is to wear sunscreen while outdoors, but it’s also beneficial to wear sunscreen indoors, as well. There are many environmental factors that can increase our risk of damaged skin, even when in the comfort of our own home or office. UV rays also penetrate the skin deeper through window glass, if you have your desk set up near a window, and increases your chance of skin cancer and premature aging of the skin.

There are many environmental factors to be aware of, especially while indoors. They include:

  • Fluorescent Lighting: This emits high levels of UV radiation and can be strong enough to burn your skin at a cellular level, raising the risk of aging and chances for skin cancer.

  • Blue Light: Caused by cell phones, computers, tablets, TVs, and other electronics, it can increase your UV exposure by bouncing rays back to your face when outside. This can cause inflammation and redness, which creates hyperpigmentation and breaks down collagen and elastin, causing wrinkles.

  • Air Pollution: There are 2-5 times more pollutants indoors than outdoors and can cause effects similar to those of blue light exposure including hyperpigmentation, wrinkles, fine lines, and loss of elasticity.

  • Weakened Skin Barrier: Dry skin is more vulnerable skin, especially in the winter months. Certain skin procedures can also make skin more vulnerable and susceptible to environmental damage.

Protect Your Skin

There are many ways to protect your skin, with the first being to wear skin protection both indoors and outdoors. Other methods include:

  • Choose a broad-spectrum coverage sunscreen; it should contain zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.
  • Don't forget about your skin care and make-up! Make sure they contain a SPF as well.
  • Wear light-weight, protective clothing including sunglasses, hat, and long-sleeves and pants when possible. If it’s hot and sunny, there’s no harm in doubling up on coverage!
  • Build breaks into the work day to give yourself a rest from electronic devices.
  • Avoid indoor tanning.

If you have any concerns about your skin, we welcome you to contact us today. We can help answer any questions you may have and schedule a full-body skin examination with our team of professionals. We are located at 500 Helendale Road in Rochester, NY and can be reached by calling 585-266-5420 or emailing us through our secure contact form.