Treatments for age spots inlude laser skin treatment, skin lightening cream, sunscreen, a dermotologist liquid nitrogen treatment. Remove sun spots! A review of your options ranging from laser skin treatment appointments to more sunscreen.

Age Spots, Brown Spots, Liver Spots

Age spots are dark discolorations on the skin that primarily affect people over forty.  They make women look old.  Having age spots typically aren’t a cause for medical concern, though irregular ones should be checked out for melanoma.  One thing is certain and that is that age spots are cosmetically very unattractive.  They also do indicate repeated exposure to the sun (sun exposure damage is a real cause of concern) as they tend to develop on our sun exposed areas such as the arms, chest and hands.  What we are looking at in this blog post is chest spots.  Obviously a bit of cleavage is entirely womanly, feminine, and sexy.  However, if you have these spots your cleavage might actually make you look like a very old lady … not so sexy!

Chest Age Spots

You might notice that older women tend to get age spots developing on the skin in the cleavage area. The age spots are usually brownish and flat to the skin.  They make your skin look mottled.  Let’s looks at the three main reasons involved in how you get them.  First is genetics, some people might just be more prone to them than others and it may depend on their skin type too.  Second is aging, as you are more prone to them when you age.  Third is sun exposure, such as tanning or tanning beds. 

Genetic Predisposition for Age Spots

You can eat healthy and be in great physical condition but this may not protect your skin or prevent you from the spots per se, so there is little you can do to control the genetic component.  Women with fair sensitive skin can be prone to age spots the most.  There is also little you can do about the fact that age spots are linked to aging because you clearly cannot stop the clock.

Sun Exposure causes Age Spots

That leaves one variable open for preventing the age spots, which is sun exposure and sun tanning. It is logical common sense that the sun causes age spots because most women get them on areas of their body that are the most exposed to the sun, namely their face, chest and arms. You cleavage is a very sensitve skin area, and many women when they wear bikini’s tend to get sunburned in the chest area which is a breeding ground for age spots to develop after sun damage. Sometimes the spots take years to develop but they will come if you keep getting tan and sunburned. 

Sun tanning is pretty much just insane for women over forty as it does nothing but damage your skin and make you look old mottled and leathery.  Stay out of the sun tan salons, tanning beds, lounge chair in 100 plus Palm Springs, etc.  No ifs ands or buts about sun-tanning.   Don’t get tan on purpose.  If you are the type of women who is working outdoors or enjoys outdoor time with children, or outdoor sports and activities, wear sunscreen.  Be sure to get SPF 30 or more, and re-apply the sunscreen at appropriate intervals.  If you love the tan look, use the fake tanner creams and sprays and avoid the sun damage.

Stay out of sun tanning salons and sun tanning situations, and wear sunscreen when playing outside. Don’t just apply sunscreen to your face. Apply it to all areas that are sun exposed on your body. Sun damage on your hands, arms and chest creeps up on you at our later age so never forget to protect those areas.  I  have some age spots in the cleavage area between my breasts and on my chest area.  However I have mitigated them and slowed them down substantially because  I started being more conscientious about putting on the sunscreen when I noticed them coming.  When I was younger I do admit to doing some tanning.  I went to what was called Tees Beach in Santa Monica.  However I was never a real bona fide sun freak as getting tan would end up looking blotchy on me, caused me to itch and peel, etc.  I didn’t avoid the sun, but I didn’t worship it either.

Bleaching Creams

In my thirties I did notice some spots and at certain points I tried the bleaching hydroquinone cream, Retin-A, etc.  The spots really take to the skin and I found these lotions and age spot creams are basically useless.  They just don’t go deep enough and are not really effective enough to prevent or get rid of these pesky spots.  

Laser or IPL Treatments

Laser treatments or the less intense IPL (pulsed light) treatments can be somewhat effective in attacking age spots however the cost of the treatment and number of treatments make this option rather prohibitve for a woman on a tight budget. I tried an IPL laser treatment once, but the result was also substandard and after spending a few hundred dollars I was done with that method.  Lasers and/or IPL will lighten age spots, but they will cost you a ton of money and multiple treatments.  It can take several treatments for your doctor to even figure out what intensity is required to actually make progress in spot removal. I would get this treatment only if I were rich and could afford to keep going and going (not caring how much money I was blowing) for sessions.

A really major laser treatment with a strong laser is almost like a surgery and pretty serious stuff – I do not think a major laser surgery just to get rid of age spots is really worth the cost, risks and downtime involved.

Chemical Peels

You can also get a chemical peel and if the peel goes deep enough, it will get rid of the spots.  There is something called a TCA peel which when compared to laser treatments is actually more cost effective. A local TCA peel will cost in the ballpark of $500.00 for a specific area (e.g. your chest). The chemical is put on your chest and burns your skin causing it to turn crusty and peel to a new layer. If you are wary of chemicals and cell damage and things like that, you might not like acid on your skin. Your skin will look lousy for about a week and you’ll have to steer clear of the sun for about six weeks. Also, you have to have the right skin color for a peel and it could have complications if it heels unevenly or too light. All told, lasers and chemical peels can help you rid yourself of the spots but it is going to cost you a lot of money.  You also risk unexpected discoloration (spots might turn white or red and not match the skin) with these methods. 

Dermatologist Treatment – Liquid Nitrogen

If I was rich, I’d probably dump money into getting them gone via the laser.  Since I am not rich, I can’t.  I did find a somewhat unseemly work about however.  That liquid nitrogen that the dermatologists use to get rid of little skin growths by burning them off can actually improve the age spots.  Notice the qualitative term, improve.  The thing is, that the liquid nitrogen burns the skin similar to a chemical peel.  If you get the liquid nitrogen applied /dotted onto just to the spots themselves, the spots will lighten up. After they heal they may not be the exact color of your skin but when lightened they tend to blend better into your skin than when dark, thus you can get an impovement at least inexpensively with this approach.

About every five years or so, if I notice some spots getting really dark, I might go to the derm and ask for liquid nitrogen on them.  Sure, the dermatologist thinks I am crazy, because an ugly burn mark is left on the spot.  But I figured out if I do this, the age spot when healed will go from yucky brown to a faded pink. Faded pink is the typical result because you are essentially burning the spot with the nitrogen, and then it heals like a scar heals.  Do you know what, I’d personally rather have a few faded pink spots than ugly dark spots any day!  Granted this is a non perfect solution, but it works for me.  About every five years I spend less than a hundred bucks on a quick liquid nitrogen dab onto my darkest spots.  It makes an ugly mark for about a month but over time it lightens and fades at least reasonably into my skin.   That’s how I deal with it.  Not perfect, but something I can afford to pay for.  Stubborn age spots won’t fade all that well, but I find that my cheap route solution is worth it and the result is an improvement.  I’m pleased with an inexpensive cosmetic improvement.  I don’t expect perfection.

Weigh the options for age spot removal

My conclusion is that bleaching creams don’t really get the job done.  Those superficial lunchtime peels will be rather ineffective on stubborn spots.  The expensive stronger chemical peels such as the TCA peel will work but can potentially discolor the area treated so be careful.   Lasers will work too, either the stronger CO2 laser or the other type, the IPL laser (IPL is not really a laser as it is slightly weaker than a laser … the IPL actually uses intense light instead).  Laser and IPL treatments cost so much money though. 

My inexpensive trick is for women who have fair to average skin tone, some spots developing but not too severe of a problem. If you dare, try having your dermatologist put a dab of liquid nitrogen on one spot and see how it takes. If it helps, it’s a quick treatment for spots that is inexpensive and can be done during the winter time to cover up the healing process. It takes a little while to heal, but it can bring spots up towards pink/pale making them blend in way better with fair or average skin. Make sure to go to a reputable dermatologist! If you have years of serious cumulative sun damage, you should go to see a specialist for advice.  A professional can figure out how best to deal with the problem you face.

Age spots on your chest are aging & unsightly. Ways to prevent and remove the age spots from your décolleté, including laser skin treatments, skin lightening creams, and peels.