THOUGH GPs and dermatologists have issued countless warnings about how sun exposure can damage your skin, it can be hard to visualise what that actually might look like.
But photos of a truck driver – whose right side permanently faced the sun for almost three decades – lay bare how much UV rays can wreak havoc on your face.
A truck driver’s sun-worn face has been used as the perfect example of what damage UV rays can do to the skin
Only one side of the driver’s face has been regularly exposed to the sun due to the nature of his work
The other side of his face was sheltered and looks years younger
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the portrait shows 69-year-old man who spent 28 years on the road, with one side of his face permanently exposed to the sun through the window while the other got respite from the interior of his truck.
The sun exposed side of his face is craggy, deeply lined and noticeably darker, but the skin on in the other side smoother and more lifted.
The photo could almost show a ‘before and after’ transformation when split in two, with the left side of the driver’s face allowing us to see what his whole face could have looked like had he worn sun cream and protected his skin from the sun.
According to the study, the left side showed signs “consistent with the Favre-Racouchot syndrome of photodamaged skin, known as dermatoheliosis”.
The skin on the damaged side of his face gradually thickened from sun exposure, in a process known as unilateral dermatoheliosis.
Sunlight is made up of several components, including Ultraviolet A (UVA) rays and UVB rays.
Unlike UVB rays, UVA rays are capable of penetrating through glass windows and clouds, destroying the skin’s elastic fibres and causing the driver’s deep wrinkles.
They can also be responsible for causing skin cancer.
According to the journal, though the damage had already been done to the man’s skin, he was told to start using topical retinoids and sunscreen while also going for regular skin cancer check ups.
Though the journal initially published its findings in 2012, they are more topical than ever, as UK skin cancer cases reached a record high and are expected to multiply.
Cancer Research UK said there are 17,500 melanoma cases per year and they could surge another 50 per cent to 26,500 per year by 2040.
These ‘alarming’ rates are being driven up because of a fashion for cheap package holidays and tanning that date back to the 60s.
How can I protect my skin from the sun?
Though you should be protecting your skin from the sun’s harmful rays year round, it’s especially important in the summer when they’re stronger and hotter.
Where possible, you should be spending time in the shade when the sun is at its most damaging, between 11am and 3pm.
If you expect to be outside, the NHS advises you wear loose and covering clothing and sunscreen with a high sun protection factor (SPF).
Your sun cream should have an SPF of at least 30, which will protect you against UVB rays and burning.
But you should also check the UVA protection of your sun cream. to make sure your skin is also shielded from UVA rays.
UK-made sunscreens will have a star rating – make sure you pick one with at least four stars.
UVA protection can also be indicated by the letters “UVA” in a circle, which indicates that it meets the EU standard.
It’s quite possible you’re also not applying enough sun cream – adults should aim to apply around 6 to 8 teaspoons of sunscreen if you’re covering your entire body, according to the NHS.
And you should aim to reapply every two hours.