Sun Damage

Colour correction

Today, we live in a world that is hypersensitive to the dangers of the sun. The debate rages between getting sun exposure for Vitamin D synthesis and avoiding the sun to minimize cancer risk. Not so long ago, there was no thought that the sun’s rays could be harmful, and a golden tan was the epitome of beauty. We would lay out for hours at a time, slathered in baby oil, walking the fine line between burning to a crisp and glowing radiantly. Little did we know that the years spent basking in the sun would leave us weathered and leathery, resembling Magda from There’s Something About Mary!

Besides the cancer causing dangers of sun overexposure, a more visible sign of sun damage starts becoming apparent in our 30’s, accelerating our aging appearance far past our actual years. Termed “Photoaging”, the sun destroys collagen, giving our skin a crepe like texture with deep wrinkles that don’t follow natural expression lines. Red capillaries show through the thinning skin on our cheeks. The colour we once coveted now becomes blotchy as “age spots” or “liver spots” start showing up, a sign that our skin has tried to protect itself to keep from burning. Dead skin cells build up as free radical oxidation destroys our skins ability to renew itself efficiently.

At The Nardella Clinic in Calgary, attention is brought to the building blocks of our skin, to renew and enhance the natural processes which have been broken down by sun overexposure. A home skin care routine is established to form the basis of all clinic treatments. Alphahydroxy Acids (AHA’s), Vitamins A and C, antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acids are the cornerstone ingredients in providing healthy nutrition to the skin as we worked to rebuild collagen and elastin, remove hyperpigmentation and reestablish a good skin cell renewal balance.

Monthly DermaSound skin treatments remove the dead skin cells and penetrated much needed nutrition deep to the newly emerging skin cells. The skin’s renewal rate is increased and rebalanced with the addition of AHA chemical peels to the DermaSound, which also acted to remove pigmentation from the skin.

The Photofacial laser treatments are commonly recommended to alternate with the DermaSounds to enhance the removal of pigment from the skin, and Refirme stimulated the production of much needed collagen and elastin to tighten lax skin along the jaw line, neck and eyes.

Aging is normal, and we can embrace it. However, tanning accelerates the photoaging process, and can be prevented and reversed.