Skin damaged by too much sun can be healed with laser therapy

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Updated:

Skin that has been damaged by too much exposure to the sun can be healed by increasing its sensitivity to light and treating it with laser therapy, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Michigan conducted tests on 24 adults aged 54 to 84, whose forearm skin showed significant sun damage. They were treated with a topical ointment that increases sensitivity to light and then given laser therapy.

The treatment, called photodynamic therapy, increased collagen levels in the skin and produced other changes that are known to improve the skin's appearance. The results also suggest that skin with the worst sun damage may respond particularly well to this treatment.

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Skin damaged by too much sun can be treated with laser therapy, researchers said in a new study

Photodynamic therapy has been used as a treatment for precancerous lesions and for some types of skin cancer, but little research had been conducted into its use in what the researchers called "appearance-oriented dermatology".

'This type of therapy has been performed in clinical practice for the past few years but we've never had detailed molecular evidence for why it may work,' said associate professor of dermatology and lead author of the study, Jeffrey Orringer.

More tests are needed before the simple-sounding treatment is used to rejuvenate faces that have seen too much sun.

'Future studies are needed to gauge whether the improvements shown in the forearm skin in this study can be replicated on facial skin,' the researchers said in a report on the study's findings, published in the Archives of Dermatology, an American Medical Association journal.

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