English for PTA

Sensitive Skin

Abbildung © Angie Lingnau - Fotolia.com © Angie Lingnau - Fotolia.com

Although heredity plays a certain role, over-exposure to the sun, incorrect skin-care, and allergic reactions to medication and food are also factors, which contribute to skin-sensitivity.

Redness, rashes, bumps, pimples, hives, freckles, sun spots and even flaking are all symptoms that sensitive skin sufferers know only too well. Fair-skinned individuals, i.e. a large proportion of Northern Europeans, tend to be more prone to the symptoms of sensitive skin than their darker Southern European neighbours.

Fairskinned people should take precautions especially during sunny periods if they want to avoid minor damage such as freckling, fine lines and sun spots, and more serious conditions such as malignant melanoma, one of the most dangerous types of skin cancer. Protection does not just mean using a sun cream with an appropriate UV protection factor, it also means limiting exposure to the sun, i.e. wearing the correct clothing, seeking the shade when the sun is at its highest point and making sure to re-cream regularly.

All of the afore-mentioned precautions go toward alleviating the effects of sun damage and the related skin conditions, not only for those with sensitive skin, but individuals with normal skin as well.

Pharmacy customer: Good afternoon. I’m going on holidays to Crete next month and I need to stock up on sun lotions, after sun and that type of thing.
Okay! Do you know what skin type you are?

Yes, I tend to have sensitive skin. I once bought a product from the cosmetic department of an ordinary supermarket, used it regularly and had an allergic reaction after a short time.
I can imagine. We have these products here which are ideal for sensitive skin, this is the sun screen with SPF30, the after sun lotion, that’s very soothing for the skin especially after the shower.

Is there anything that I should be particularly careful about?
Oh certainly! It’s essential to apply sun protection 15 to 30 minutes before going out in the sun and reapplying at regular intervals during your day in the sunshine. Don’t forget the “sun-terraces”.

Sun-terraces?
Sun-terraces are areas of skin that are more likely to get sunburnt before the rest of the skin surface. These areas are the forehead, the nose and the knees.

Oh, I see!
Protective clothing should also be considered for covering large areas of skin and a broad-brimmed hat should be worn to protect the eyes wearing.

Isn’t it enough to wear sunglasses with UV protection?
There are so many different types of sunglasses, it’s best to ask your optician for advice.

You mentioned protective clothing. What did you mean by that?
UV protective clothing is made of fabric tested for its effectiveness in reflecting or protecting from UVrays, especially the extremely harmful UV-A rays, which penetrate the epidermis damaging the deeper layers of the dermis.

Well, thank you for your help.
Thank you, goodbye.

Bye!

Vocabulary
heredity Vererbung
over-exposure Überbelastung,
Überbelichtung
sensitive skin empfindliche Haut,
sensible Haut
bumps Beulen
pimples Pickeln
hives Quaddeln
freckles Sommersprossen
sun spots (also known as liver spots) Leberflecken, Altersflecken
flaking Schuppung
fair-skinned hellhäutig
i.e. (gesprochen: that is) id est, das heißt
prone to anfällig für
take precautions Vorsichtsmaßnahmen treffen
malignant melanoma bösartiges Melanom, malignes Melanom
protection Schutz
shade Schatten
afore-mentioned oben erwähnt
alleviating lindernd, mildernd
-related bezogene
Crete Kreta
SPF (sun protection factor) Sonnenschutzfaktor
soothing beruhigend
sunburnt sonnenverbrannt
forehead Stirn
broad-brimmed breitkrempig
fabric Stoff
penetrate dringt ein