Getting Rid of Age Spots

Image by maciul via Flickr A cousin of mine from Los Angeles has just stopped using whitening products because she couldn't get rid of the dark spots forming on her skin. She has dark brown skin but these spots are darker and appeared lately when she has reached the big four-oh. It's a natural occurrence in our family that we develop age spots, but usually they come in the form of lentigos, which are small wart-like growths that grow in number as we age.

In an effort to help find a solution to her skin problem, I turn once again to the ever-reliable Internet. Searching through topics like 'melasma', 'age spots' and 'lentigos', I chance upon a medical page on how people can get rid of age spots.

Age spots as their name implies are brought on by aging. However, their appearance is determined by many factors which includes genetics and sun exposure. As we age our skin becomes more vulnerable to the sun thus we produce too much melanin to compensate. Melanin is a natural pigment produced by our body to naturally protect us from the sun's UV rays. However, as we age this pigmentation isn't distributed evenly over our skin because of its deteriorating condition. And so the melanin form age spots all over areas exposed most often to the sun such as the upper chest, the upper arms and the face.

Age spots, as I have learned, can be treated. Knowing this my cousin from Los Angeles resumes her search for a way to get rid of the dark spots forming on her skin. I recommended a clinic for her that gets rid of age spots through laser treatment which is faster and more effective than using creams and lotions.

Laser treatment may require one or two sessions to treat age spots depending on the darkness and number of the spots. Also to prevent age spots from coming back after treatment try to avoid being exposed to the sun as much as possible. If you have to go out please cover your skin to protect it from the sun's harmful rays. Don't forget to use sunblock each day even when you are indoors.