Fair -skinned people are often affected by sundamage. Sundamage manifests in the appearance of scaly rough areas of skin called actinic keratoses and brown spots called solar lentigenes. Sun damage also leads to the development of facial redness and wrinkles. Unfortunately sun damage can also result in skin cancers. Irish people need to exercise caution with regard to sun exposure.

while short periods of sun exposure may be desirable in vitamin D production, many Irish overdo it when it comes to sunbathing particularly on vacations in sunnier climes.Sunbeds should be avoided or at least kept to a minimum.Men who are bald need to be particularly careful to protect their scals by wearing a hat as this area is very prone to sundamage. Children should also be very carefully protected from the sun as sunburns in childhood may be associated with the development of melanoma in later life.

Sundamage can be effectively treated.Actinic keratoses are treated with cryotherapy or creams/gels. A newer effective treatment for actinic keratoses is photodynamic therapy.However, it is quite expensive for routine use.This why cryotherapy is still the most widely used treatment for this condition.

Brown spots (solar lentigenes) are also often treated with cryotherapy.Laser is also an efficient therapy for brown spots.