The sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays have a lasting effect on your skin. They are responsible for the majority of skin cancers and also have a significant impact on ageing. Over your lifetime, prolonged incremental exposure to UV radiation can accumulate and cause permanent signs of ageing, including wrinkles, fine lines, lax skin, pigmentation, dullness, broken capillaries, sun spots, freckles, and other skin health problems.

Sun damage also exponentially increases your risk of skin cancer. It is a major precursor to skin cancer and the presence of scaly sun damage dramatically increases your chance of developing skin cancer in that area. Treatment is highly recommended to reduce your risk.

Topical treatments are available to reduce your skin cancer risk and treat superficial skin cancers, precancerous lesions, sun spots and more, with excellent cosmetic results on sun-damaged and sun-aged skin.

Address symptoms of skin damage caused by sun exposure such as ageing, sun spots and pigmentation, for a bright and even complexion.

Sun exposure contributes to about 80 per cent of your skin’s visible signs of ageing. We can help you to manage the signs of sun damage and prevent future symptoms from showing, with treatments available to achieve a bright, even complexion free from discolouration.

Topical sun damage field treatments

Topical sun damage field treatments such as photodynamic light therapy and rapid solar repair therapy are an effective way to treat sun-damaged skin on large areas like the face, scalp, hands, décolletage, and legs. Field treatments not only reduce your risk of developing skin cancer in the future but also improve the quality and appearance of the skin overall.

What can topical sun damage field treatments help with?

Treatments like photodynamic light therapy and rapid solar repair therapy are ideal for treating:

• Superficial skin cancers
• Precancerous lesions
• Basal cell carcinoma
• Actinic /solar keratoses (sun spots)
• Prevention of squamous cell carcinoma
• Sun damaged skin
• Sun-aged skin
• Acne

What does sun damaged skin look like and why treat it?

The sun irreversibly damages and prematurely ages our skin. Evidence of those hours in the sun later show up on our face, chest, neck, and arms. The signs appear as rough scaly patches, broken capillaries, wrinkles, sagging skin, freckles, uneven pigmentation, and dark spots. Sometimes they show up as precancerous lesions or skin cancer.

Precancerous sunspots appear as scaly raised skin spots. Although you can scratch off the scale – often revealing a pink or red flat spot underneath – this will start to grow back in a matter of days. The presence of scaly, sun damaged skin significantly increases your likelihood of developing skin cancer in the same area. This is because your skin’s natural healing properties have already been compromised and are therefore less effective in fighting off more malicious attacks.

Treating sun damage helps to recharge your skin’s defences and ward off skin cancer. Furthermore, many people can feel self-conscious about the scaly appearance of their sun damaged skin, so treatment that removes that roughness may give you a welcome confidence boost.

How to treat sun-damaged skin

Photodynamic therapy (PDT)

A topical medicated cream is applied to your skin and activated by a specialised light source. This destroys cancerous, precancerous, and sun-damaged cells while healthy cells remain intact, promoting promotes smoother, clearer and healthier skin in a few days.

PDT is an effective, safe and long-lasting skin cancer treatment for certain superficial and precancerous lesions as recommended by your doctor and can further reduce your risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancers in the treatment area for patients with a history of basal and squamous cell carcinomas.

Photodynamic rejuvenation for cancer provides excellent cosmetic results for those who have heavily sun-damaged or sun-aged skin. It also calms acne and rosacea. Learn more about photodynamic light therapy.

Rapid solar repair therapy

Rapid solar repair therapy is a combination cream treatment which has been shown in rigorous research trials to be a highly effective treatment for solar keratoses (sun spots) and to substantially reduce the future development of squamous cell carcinomas. The treatment is suitable for the scalp, face, chest, arms and legs. It specifically targets precancerous cells and sun damaged skin, causing a skin reaction, but has limited effect on normal skin. Generally, skin with more sun damage will have a more intense reaction.

Rapid solar repair therapy is a non-surgical skin cancer treatment that results in healthier, smoother skin with a reduced risk of skin cancers in the future.

What are the benefits of topical options for treating sun damage?

Non-surgical treatment without scarring

Topical sun damage repair is a non-surgical treatment option for skin cancers, precancerous lesions, sun-damaged skin, acne, rosacea and more, that achieves effective and safe results without scarring or the long downtime typically associated with surgical therapies.

Prevent skin cancers

Studies confirm that topical sun damage repair treatments substantially reduce the future development of squamous cell carcinomas in the treated area, thereby reducing your skin cancer risk.

Clear, healthy skin

Since topical sun damage treatments specifically target damaged skin cells, healthy cells are left intact to reveal bright, smooth and healthy skin in just a few days.

Treat acne, rosacea & sun damage

A versatile treatment for damaged skin, these topical therapies are ideal for acne, rosacea, ageing, and other skin conditions like general sun damage.

Learn more about sun damage repair.