If you have small, scaly patches on your skin, you may have a serious condition called Actinic Keratosis. In most cases, it is considered precancerous, meaning leaving it untreated could lead to skin cancer. Following some key steps can improve your chances of preventing more keratoses and skin cancer down the road.
The first step is staying out of the sun whenever possible. Also, use sunscreen with SPF and cover up your skin with clothing if you must be in the sun. Finally, using a natural skincare product is very helpful in preventing more sun damage.
The most important step you can take to prevent further skin damage is to stay out of the sun as much as possible. Limit the amount of time you spend outside each day, even on a cloudy day. Remember, the sun is most powerful between 10am and 4pm, so try to stay inside if possible during those hours. Also, being at a higher altitude, or around snow, water, or ice, can intensify the sun's rays.
Actinic Keratosis Prevention:
It's helpful to use sunscreen and clothing to protect your skin if you can't stay indoors. Sunscreens with an SPF of 15 or higher are the most effective. Put on sunscreen 20-30 minutes before you go out into the sun. Don't enter the water immediately after putting on your sunscreen. Reapplication of sunscreen is essential, every 1-2 hours, even on cloudy days. Don't forget - apply sunscreen to your lips too!
Protective clothing is also helpful to shield your skin from the sun. Wearing long sleeved shirts, pants, sunglasses, and hats will help protect you from sun damage. The tighter the weave of the clothing, the more protected your skin will be. Also, wide brimmed hats will help shield your face and neck from the sun's damage.
Another great way to take care of your skin and prevent harmful damage from the sun is to use a skin care cream. Research on actinic keratosis shows that effective skin creams can peel away the existing keratosis and reveal new, healthier cells. Creams using trichloroacetic acid for actinic keratosis can help peel away the skin lesions and allow new, healthy skin to form.
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