Summer is swiftly approaching and along with it the sweltering heat and harsh sunshine.
Complications can often arise when the skin is repeatedly exposed to the ultraviolet rays. Sometimes wearing very light clothing, taking a dip in the sea or trying as hard as possible to avoid being in the sun are not enough to prevent the summer heat and sun from heavily damaging your skin.
Dermatologist Karen Jones-Marshall said there were several skin problems common in summer, among them rashes, fungal infections and marks from insect bites.
Skin rashes include heat rashes that tend to affect babies. These are caused by the increase in the atmospheric humidity and higher temperatures. In addition, there is prolonged exposure to the sun that causes sun rashes, common among people with skin sensitive to the ultra violet radiation.
Jones-Marshall explained: “The sunlight interacts with the skin and gives [people] a specific rash . . . . You can see it if people have been cutting grass and weeding. The chemicals from the plants interacting with the sun and the skin will give them a rash.”
The dermatologist said she saw a lot of cutaneous fungal infections. “There are mainly two types – the yeast Candida, which happens to be one of the agents that commonly lives on the skin, and you get a flare-up of infections during the summer months because the yeast thrives on the increased moisture and heat in the atmosphere,” she said.
She explained that the condition usually affected the parts of the body where there were skin folds, for example under the arms, in the groin area, under the breast or in any area on the body that is damp and warm. In addition there is the dermatophyte infection and this is the one that causes the ringworm and athlete’s foot, affecting the chest, back, scalp and nails.
For people who tend to have problems with acne, summer can be a time of concern. The sebaceous glands, which produce the oil that keeps the skin moist, are more active when it is hot and humid than in cooler temperatures.
The skin can also be ravaged by insects during summer.
Skin cancers can result from constant exposure to ultra violet radiation. Skin cancers are common in the Caucasian population and are caused by years of exposure to sunlight, however the melanomas are more common in people of darker skin.
“The pigment in dark-skinned individuals protects them from getting the squamous and basal cell carcinoma, but for us we tend to get the melanomas in areas that are not covered by the pigment such as the palms and the soles of the feet,”Jones-Marshall said.
“Daily we should cleanse our skin, particularly the face,” the dermatologist said. “Lots of people ignore the face and tend to look after the rest of the body but you must clean the face at least twice daily to get (rid of) all of that dirt and oil and sweat.”
However, she said that the most important part of the skin care programme was using a sunscreen.
“Everyone of all skin types should wear a sunscreen daily, not only during the summer months, and it should be of SPF (sun protection factor) 30 and above. Caucasians should be protecting themselves from childhood,” the skin care specialist said.
“I have been seeing quite a number of people who come in at age 40 and they have these skin cancers and they would say no one ever told them when they were younger that they should have been using a sunscreen every day and they needed to stay out of the sun.”
Keeping the body hydrated, drinking lots of fluids, keeping the skin moist – these things all help in the overall protection of the skin.
In addition, wear clothing that protects the skin and is lightweight and preferably made of natural fibres like cotton and linen. For those who cannot avoid going into the sun, for example gardeners and agricultural workers, they should wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers.
Jones-Marshall suggested sunglasses. “You should wear sunglasses as they not only look cool but they protect the eyes from damage by the ultra violet rays,” she explained.
“Sunglasses are helpful because they prevent you from squinting, which is the eye’s natural response whenever it encounters bright light and over the long term you develop wrinkles, particularly along the corner of the eyes and the forehead.
“Squinting over a long period of time gives you premature ageing, so you are actually slowing down the ageing process by wearing these sunglasses.”
The dermatologist warned against going to the beach and “baking in the sun”.
“You should not bake yourself in the sun, no matter what colour you are. Even for darker persons, even though they have the protection in the pigment, they can still get sun burnt. You must wear the sunscreen, cover all exposed areas, it should be reapplied every two hours”, she said.
