Sun-Caused Texture Changes

The skin thickening and thinning is caused by UV exposure. The skin is thick in coarse wrinkles particularly on the back of the neck that do not disappear when the skin is stretched. Solar elastosis is thickened, coarse wrinkling and yellow discoloration of the skin. A usual result of UV exposure is thinning of the skin causing fine wrinkles, easy bruising, and skin tearing.

Sun-Caused Blood Vessel Changes

Because of UV radiation, the walls of blood vessels become thinner leading to bruising with only minor trauma in sun-exposed areas. For instance, the majority of the bruising that occurs on sun-damaged skin appears on the backs of the hands and forearms not on the inside of the upper arm or even the inside of the forearm.

The appearance of telangiectasias, tiny blood vessels, in the skin especially on the face, is also caused by the sun.

Sun-Caused Pigment Changes

A freckle or solar lentigo is the most noticeable sun-induced pigment change. People with light skin are likely to freckle more noticeably. When the melanin-producing cell, or melanocyte, is damaged causing it to get bigger, a freckle appears. Large freckles, or age spots or liver spots, usually occur on the backs of the hands, chest, shoulders, arms, and upper back. They are not in fact age related but sun-damage related. There can also appear (due to UV exposure) white spots especially on the legs, but also on the backs of the hands and arms, as melanocytes are destroyed.

Sun-Caused Skin Bumps

An increased number of moles in sun-exposed areas is also caused by UV radiation. Precancerous lesions, called actinic keratoses that develop especially on the face, ears, and backs of the hands, are also caused by sun exposure. Small crusty bumps are often felt better than they are seen. And these actinic keratoses are likely to be premalignant lesions because 1 in 100 cases per year will develop into squamous cell carcinoma. Sun exposure also may result in seborrheic keratoses, which are warty looking lesions that seem to be "stuck on" the skin. Seborrheic keratoses do not become cancerous, unlike actinic keratoses.

Sun-Caused Skin Cancer

It is a well-known fact that the sun can cause skin cancer. There are 3 main skin cancers: melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. The most deadly skin cancer is melanoma, as it metastasizes more readily than the other skin cancers. Experts consider that the amount of exposure of the skin to the sun before the age of 20 is in fact the determining risk factor for melanoma. The most common skin cancer is basal cell carcinoma. It tends to spread locally, not metastasize. The second most common skin cancer is squamous cell carcinoma, and it can metastasize though not as commonly as melanoma. And the risk of getting basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma is determined by a lifetime exposure to UV radiation and the pigment protection.