Bonus episode: Could screen time be ageing your skin?
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What is the main focus of this episode and why does screen time matter for skin health?
Hello and welcome to Something to Talk About, the Stellar Podcast. I'm Sarah Lamarquand, your host. Today on Something to Talk About, we're shifting gears to talk about something that affects almost every Australian. The damage our everyday lives may be doing to our skin. We know the risks of spending too long in the sun. But what about the exposure we don't so often consider, including the hours we spend? When sitting in front of computer screens.
Ten years ago or more, we thought that personal devices contributed to premature signs of aging and possibly conditions like melasma and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.
Associate Professor Michelle Rodriguez is an internationally recognised dermatologist, an expert in pigmentation and skin of colour. She says the damage we see in our 40s and 50s may have been decades in the making, but it's never too late to change the ending. On this special episode, produced in partnership with LaRoche Posset, Michelle joins me to explain why our skin remembers the sun and the small changes you can make to your everyday routine. Associate Professor Michelle Rodriguez, welcome to the Stellar Podcast. Thank you so much for having me. I have brought you in to shamelessly pick your brains because winter is officially over. You can hear the sighs of relief around the country. And as we're entering the warmer months of the year, really wanted to get your expertise as a dermatologist and international expert in pigment and skin of colour.
About dealing with the UV radiation in this country. The radiation index in Australia is one of the most brutal in the world. Outside, Michelle, of the the culture of beach and the great outdoors, is there something about the Australian skin that makes us particularly vulnerable to radiation? It's
it's such a great question because we have this perfect storm in Australia, I think, of a really multiculturally diverse population that may be genetically predisposed to certain kinds of hyperpigmentation coupled with this extreme UV index.
How does Australia’s extreme UV index and outdoor lifestyle affect skin aging?
It can sometimes reach, you know, anywhere between twelve and sixteen, which is very unusual for anywhere in the northern hemisphere. So some of the highest UV indexes in the world. plus our love of the great outdoors, um, and beautiful beaches and green spaces, etcetera. So when you put all this together, it really means that the prevalence of pigmentary disorders and aging of the skin is significantly higher than it is in some other parts of the world.
So it is the fact that we love to be outdoors, but we also happen to love to be outdoors in a part of the world that has rating very high on on figures. We're a very competitive country, but that might be an area where we would prefer not to be rating so highly. Potentially, potentially.
And the other thing is, you know, we've got a wonderful environment that's relatively pollution free. Um, and this might sound counterintuitive, but because of our crystal clear skies all of the UV index that's coming to the earth actually hits our skin without obstruction. So in other parts of the world where there's pollution, some of that UV actually gets scattered. So again, it's our beautiful, you know, pollution free environment that actually also um contributes to that.
Michelle, the words anti aging have dominated the conversation around skin and skincare for years. But I've been hearing dermatologists increasingly talk about skin longevity. Could you explain what exactly skin longevity means?
I'm so excited that we're actually changing that conversation because for the last twenty years we've been Focusing on how we can change problems, visible signs that occur. So chasing that wrinkle, chasing that, you know, brown spot. But we're now moving to an era where we're thinking about how can we help the skin cells function as optimally as we can for as long as we can. So rather than a s a spot you know, knee-jerk reaction to something we see, we're physically thinking how we can prevent and help the skin be resilient and well functioning throughout life, which is excellent.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main focus of this episode and why does screen time matter for skin health?
0:08–2:16
2
How does Australia’s extreme UV index and outdoor lifestyle affect skin aging?
2:16–4:35
3
What does “skin longevity” mean and how is it different from traditional anti‑aging approaches?
4:35–6:41
4
How do heat and blue‑light exposure from screens contribute to skin damage?
6:41–10:29
5
Why does our skin keep a “biological diary” of UV exposure and how does that lead to hyperpigmentation?
10:29–16:01
6
What simple, barrier‑first skincare routine can protect and repair mature, sun‑exposed skin?
16:01–21:46
7
Which common myths about sun protection and skincare are most misleading?
21:46–26:34
8
What practical steps can listeners take today to protect their skin year‑round?
26:34–31:41