A British man found out the hard way that if you spending a lot of time in the Sun, itās important to have adequate protection.
Steve, a 56-year-old truck driver from Yorkshire,Ā UK, realized just how important taking care of your skin is after visiting an aesthetic doctor.
He had never so much as worn any sunscreen or moisturized his skin in hisĀ life. To make matters worse, being aĀ driverĀ for 30 years meant that Steve wasnāt exactly shielded from the Sunās UV radiation.
Three decades of theĀ jobĀ eventually took its toll on his skin and it became visibly clear that one side of his face had aged more than the other.
Speaking toĀ the Mirror, Steve said: āFor the last four or five years I was noticing deep lines and wrinkles on the right side of my face. I used to look in the mirror and pull the skin around my eye back and think to myself, āIām getting oldā.ā
Sun had hit the right side of his face for 30 years (Positive Communications)
As part of his job, Steve would spend six days a week on the road, with the Sun hitting primarily his right side.
āTo be honest, I thought it was part and parcel of ageing and I never thought about having any treatments, until I remembered a newspaper picture and story featuring a UV photo of a lorry driverās face showing the really bad Sun damage just on his right side,ā he continued.
āThatās when it clicked with meā¦ My lines and wrinkles were also likely caused by Sun damage.ā
Despite realizing that Sun damage could be the culprit, Steve didnāt start using SPF until he saw Dr Hannah Higgins, aesthetic doctor and clinical director of The Wellness Space in Barnsley.
He said: āShe told me the Sun had not only damaged the surface of my skin, but the deeper layers too, which had caused the right side of my face to sink a little bit.
āShe also said I had a skin condition called rosacea, which was making my face a bit red.ā
Steveās doctor gave him a medical-grade skincare regime together with a 50 SPF to use every day before she could treat him to correct the unevenness of his face.
Steveās attitude towards sunscreen has certainly changed (Positive Communications)
āIāve seen female patients with asymmetrical lines before, often caused by simple things, such as always sleeping on one side of their face, which can cause more advanced ageing,ā Dr Higgins explained.
āHowever, the asymmetry caused by the Sun damage to Steveās face was more marked than anything Iād previously seen.
āHis entire face showed signs of UV damage; there was redness, erythema (reddening), age spots and pigmentation, plus more oil resting on the surface of the skin than Iād normally expect.ā
After following Dr Higginsās regime, Steve could be treated with a dermal filler treatment to smooth out the appearance of his wrinkles.
āNow, Iād tell everyone to use sunscreen whether they are in a lorry cab or outside,ā Steve said.