Solar Elastosis: Why Creams Won't Work For Chronic Sun Damage

Time for your derm lesson for the week! In addition to seeing patients, I spend half my time sitting at the microscope, diagnosing biopsies of skin cancers and rashes (nerdy, but I love it!). In the background of most skin cancers, I see this amorphous lavender substance called solar elastosis, which is what gives sun damaged skin its lackluster, crepey, wrinkled quality. Years of sun damage and smoking leads to this breakdown of the elastic fibers that makes youthful skin plump and smooth.

So why am I showing you this? Well, one, it’s to scare you into avoiding the sun like the plague and being a sunscreen zealot to slow the breakdown of your gorgeous elastic fibers. And, two, it’s to illustrate to you why anti-wrinkle creams won’t do much once you start seeing wrinkles. Solar elastosis is located in the dermis, about 3 millimeters below the impenetrable barrier of your epidermis, the top layer of the skin. Rarely do creams penetrate that deeply. On top of that, creams will not be able to fix the structural damage that has been done. Imagine trying to fix an old, stiff and cracked rubberband with Vaseline. No amount of grease is going to give that rubberband back its bounce. That’s why injectable Botox and hylaluronic acid filler are much more effective for correcting the droopiness and wrinkles of many summers at the beach with Hawaiian Tropic bronzing oil smeared on. Click here for photos that will scare you and information about solar elastosis!