(Picture: New England Journal of Medicine)

We know that we should wear suncream when we’re basking on the beach – but few of us use it every day as part of our regular skin care regime.

Our faces are subjected to UV rays all year round, whatever the weather.

And yet it’s only really beauty buffs who are concerned with avoiding fine lines and wrinkles at all cost.

But this shocking photo of a truck driver is proof that we really need to be more concerned with the everyday effect that the sun has on our skin.


Published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the 69-year-old’s photo shows how much more aged one side of his face is than the other.



Upon examination, the left side of his face was found to have signs ‘consistent with the Favre-Racouchot syndrome of photodamaged skin, known as dermatoheliosis’.

For 28 years, the trucker has had his left side exposed to UVA rays transmitted through his window – whereas his right side was covered and relatively unharmed.

(Picture: New England Journal of Medicine)

And that’s resulted in the skin on the left side getting thicker (a process called unilateral dermatoheliosis).

UVA rays are able to penetrate through glass windows and clouds and chronic exposure can lead to the destruction of the skin’s elastic fibres – which explains the deep wrinkles.

Alas, it’s almost impossible to avoid UVA rays, according to Skincancer.org, as they make up 95% of the UV radiation reaching the Earth’s surface.

Apart from ageing the skin, they also carry skin cancer risks, due to the breakdown of DNA and direct toxicity.

So it’s crucial that you use suncream, even when it’s cloudy and crap outside.

As for the trucker, he’s been recommended to start using topical retinoids, sunscreen and to get regularly checked for signs of skin cancer.

MORE: Why do your fingers go wrinkly in the bath?

MORE: Heavy periods could soon be a thing of the past, scientists believe

‘

Advertisement Advertisement