Sunbathing, watching your kids play sports or other activities in the sun can give you a healthy looking glow, but can also damage your skin. According to the Mayo Clinic, sun damage does not occur with just one day of overexposure, but over a longer period in which your skin has soaked up harmful UVA and UVB rays.
Mottled Coloring
Skin cells protect themselves from sun damage by producing more melanin--the skin's pigment. For that reason, people with sun damage may find they have mottled or uneven coloring of the skin, especially on the face. Lack of uniform pigmentation is usually more noticeable in people who have lighter skin tones. People with pale complexions might also see sun damage in the form of broken blood vessels on the face, which gives the skin a mottled, reddish appearance.
Age Spots
The development of age spots is another form of sun damage to be aware of, especially as you age. Called solar lentigines or liver spots, these areas of pigmentation are usually dark in color--gray, black or brown--and occur on areas of the body that are not naturally protected from the sun, such as on the face and head, back, hands or arms. Darkened lesions called labial lentigo can also develop on the lips.
Solar lentigines can be confused with freckles at first glance, but are different explains the Mayo Clinic. Freckles tend to be smaller in size and lighter in color than age spots that are the result of sun damage.
Wrinkles
Skin wrinkles are a normal sign of aging, as collagen and elastic decreases, but the deep creases and lines in the skin can also be a indication of sun damage. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, premature wrinkling and skin sagging is one of the consequences of inadequate sun protection. The medical term for this condition is called solar elastosis.
Scaly Areas
Sun damage to the skin can produce small, raised patches on the skin known as solar or actininc keratoses. The damaged areas are usually scaly and flesh-colored and are most often found on the face and head, ears and hands. People with lighter skin tones are more likely to develop keratoses, which can lead to skin cancer in some cases.
Changes in Moles
Too much sun exposure can cause harmless moles on the skin to change and to potentially develop into melanoma--a form of skin cancer. Moles are darkened areas on the skin that most of the time do not pose a problem. Growths that have an irregular shape are asymmetrical, or increase size could be a sign of skin cancer.
