Just Started Wearing Sunscreen? 3 Non-Invasive Ways To Erase Sun Damage So You Can Start Fresh

If you just learned how important it is to wear sunscreen daily to protect your skin from sun damage, then you may wish you could travel back in time to tell your younger self to start protecting their skin from the sun. While time travel may not currently exist, you can actually reverse a lot of the sun damage your skin developed over the years, and you don't have to "go under the knife" to do it. Here are three non-invasive ways a dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon can help repair your skin and restore it to a healthy, fresh state.    

1. Red Light Therapy

The power of light is being used more in dermatology today, and just as blue light can help heal acne due to its bacteria-killing power, red light can repair sun damage due to its healing power. Light therapy is one of the least invasive ways to repair sun damaged skin, as it literally just involves exposing your sun-damaged skin to a special red light on a schedule your doctor creates. 

Red light has just about the longest wavelength of the entire light spectrum. When projected onto the skin, it stimulates skin fibroblasts to produce new collagen and elastin, which are two components of skin that are damaged over the years during sun exposure. 

When skin has more collagen, it looks firmer and healthier. You can combine regular sessions of professional red light therapy with daily use of collagen-stimulating skin-care products, such as a vitamin C serum, for the best results. 

2. Non-Ablative Laser Resurfacing

There are two main types of lasers used to treat sun-damaged skin, and these include ablative and non-ablative lasers. Ablative lasers vaporize the top layer of sun-damaged skin to allow your body to then replace it with healthier skin. Non-ablative lasers, on the other hand, don't vaporize any skin, but instead deliver healing heat deep into your skin to not only stimulate production of healthy components of skin, like collagen, but also destroy damaged skin cells.  

Non-ablative laser therapy can rejuvenate skin more quickly than red light therapy, as the lasers used are very powerful.  

3. IPL Therapy

Intense pulsed light therapy, often called IPL, is another non-invasive way to repair sun damage. Instead of projecting just red light, like in red light therapy, an IPL laser projects a full spectrum of light that not only stimulates collagen production, but also helps eliminate hyper-pigmentation, such as brown or red spots on skin. 

IPL is a great option if your main problem is melasma and/or red, blotchy skin, while non-ablative lasers are considered best to eliminate wrinkles. 

If you have sun-damaged skin from years of sun exposure, then you have an array of very non-invasive options for treating it and taking years off your appearance. Speak to a doctor to see which option or combination of options is best for you.  

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