Tempted to skip the sunscreen? Consider this man's story -- or just take a look at his face (see below). Your skin says a lot about your health.
For 30 years, William (Bill) Edward McElligott was on the road from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. behind the wheel of a truck in Chicago. Now he has the face of an 86-year-old. At least on one side; the other side of his face -- the one not exposed to the sun -- reflects his actual age, 66. See the image in this ABC News report.
The Chicago man has unilateral dermatoheliosis (photo-aging), caused by repeated, long-term exposure to UVA rays of the sun. It creates deep wrinkles, sun spots, and sagging skin on the side that was exposed to the sun -- a dramatic difference from the much smoother side that was shaded.
“My left arm was always more tan than my right, because a lot of the time I had the window open (since) we didn’t have A.C.,” McElligott told ABC News. But like many people, he didn't immediately associate the facial changes to sun damage, or even notice that they were more pronounced on one side.
Sun damage raises the risk of skin cancer. Being a man is one of the surprising factors in skin cancer risk, in part because of men's generally shorter hair, lack of protective makeup, and tendency to spend more time working in the sun.
It was McElligott's grandchildren who first noticed the "two faced" look of their grandpa and led him to seek treatment. Dermatologists say that more skin damage to one side of the face than the other is common.
McElligott's case is in the current New England Journal of Medicine.
Image by Flickr jalalspages, used under a Creative Commons license.
This is a good opportunity to remind African-Americans that we are also susceptable to skin damage from the sun. I was stationed in Central Africa on a job. When my doctor gave me an examination required before I went, I laughed when he gave me suntan lotion thinking I was too dark to be sunburned. Within two weeks I had to visit the American Embassy doctor fearing I had acquired a tropical disease. My skin was peeling from my head to my abdomen. My nylon shirts felt like sandpaper. I had been swimming almost day in pools available to Americans through our recreational society and the American Ambassador. I should have listened when my white compatriots noticed in the lockerroom that when I took off my swimming truncks it looked like I only changed to lighter swimming apparel, except the obvious fact that I was nude. Thank God I wasn,t swimming in the nude!
going south to Peoria area my left arm from the shoulder to the elbow was a bad sun burn. I should have stopped and got some sun screen but it was to late when I realized I had been burned severely. I got blisters with fluid inside that broke and the skin peeled off. I'm 80 and know better but did stop and get a sun blocker the rest of the vacation. As a carpenter I've spent too much time in the sun and now I am more concious of getting too much exposure. I also have lost the fatty layer under my skin and when I bump myself the blood pools out under the skin from my elbow down and the doc says it's caused by too much sun in my youth.
Myself do not use sunscreen because I spend most of my time indoors now that I'am retired. Now do not get me wrong about this.
I drive all the time and my hands prove how damaging the sun is. Left hand is 20 years older.