Age spots

Brown spots, also known as age spots, are those annoying brown spots of skin that we get on our chest, face, arms and hands. The brown spots are caused by ongoing exposure to the sun over a long period of time. That’s why we tend to get them on areas of our body which are often exposed. It’s called hyper-pigmentation when these small spots of skin get darker than the surrounding skin.

Prevent sun spots

Preventative measures to prevent or ameliorate oncoming age spots includes wearing sunscreen, exfoliating skin, peels, and even bleaching cream. Sun tanning and smoking as well, should both be avoided because it makes the skin more susceptible to the spots. You can always cover age spots with concealer, but if you have more than a few you may want to consider getting them treated and hopefully removed.

Treat age spots

The premier cosmetic treatment for the brown spots is via a laser. The laser hits the spots with intense light and after the treatment some 70% of the spots will be improved. The only problem is that laser treatments generally cost $100-$200 per session. Sometimes a few sessions are needed for the esthetician to get the right power settings for your particular age spot removal.

Another treatment is getting a chemical peel. Since the peel removes the surface layer of the skin, the brown spots are often cured since the discoloration is generally at the skin’s surface. Home cosmetic peels are less effective than the more expensive (and intense) TCA peels in treating the spots.

Liquid nitrogen is a cheap treatment alternative for women with light skin

For women with lighter skin there is a very inexpensive way to treat age spots. You can go to the dermatologist. If you have fair skin, for approximately $85.00 or thereabouts, the derm can use something called liquid nitrogen cyrotherapy on your age spots. The liquid nitrogen is applied by the dermatologist either using a q-tip or using a special liquid nitrogen spray bottle. Each spot is treated individually with a q-tip dot or small squirt of the liquid nitrogen.

Liquid nitrogen from a dermotologist

After liquid nitrogen treatment the skin will turn dark red and a minor burn will appear within a few days. It looks scary yet after one to two weeks the burn just turns into a scab, dries out, and falls off. Underneath is fresher skin which will look pink (not brown). As time goes on the pink fades and turns out to be white/beige in color. It generally blends very well with a medium to light skinned woman’s skin. The dark spots will be for the most part gone.

Skin treatment for fair skin vs olive complexion

If you have olive skin or darker skin, don’t try liquid nitrogen as you don’t want the skin appearing noticeable light (may be worse than the original age spot if your skin is olive or darker). If you have dark skin you can’t do the liquid nitrogen and should instead consult a dermatologist who knows how to treat dark skin with the laser. Women that suffer from age spots tend to have the fairer skin however, and in certain cases the liquid nitrogen can work as a great price cutting alternative to the laser or chemical peels.

There are many ways to treat your brown spots so if they bother you, see a dermatologist and find out what your removal options are. For lighter skinned women, a simple liquid nitrogen treatment on the spots can improve them by leaps and bounds, and it is inexpensive. Just be sure to try to get any age spot treatment in the winter time because the spots look worse before better. You’ll want to keep them covered up during the healing.

Protect your skin with sunscreen and don’t smoke because it weakens your skin. To ward off an overgrowth of these spots if you are prone to getting them, you’ll want to get some kind of treatment for the spots every few years. Left untreated, continued damage from sun exposure will make the age spots look really bad and more will come, as shown in the photograph example.

Maintain ageless beautiful skin by keeping it protected

Most the of the age spot removal treatments work fundamentally the same, they are removing or damaging the top layer of skin to get to the fresh skin underneath. If you have a tendency to get them keep on top of age spots by going in for a treatment every few years when new ones show up. You skin will look better in the long run from the dermatology visits. Women that smoke and get too much sun should reconsider that behavior because it wreaks havoc on your skin over time.