Skin that is flawlessly beautiful and full of life is not so easy to achieve.  From a few blemishes, hyper pigmented areas and acne marks, the list of skin concerns continue to add up as we grow older.  Gradually, the wrinkles and age spots show, with the growing inefficiency of our skin to turnover hastening the notice-ability of various signs of skin aging.

How to improve the appearance of age spots.

Of all the causes of age spots and other darkening skin problems, the most prevalent is sun exposure.  Other causes include tanning beds and other artificial sources of UV.  Age spots form as a protective reaction of the skin.  To help arrest possible damage and shield the skin from UV, the skin’s melanocyte cells produce more melanin, causing the skin to darken and form age spots. 

To get rid of age spots, the following actions are recommended depending on the extent of damage caused by age spots, your preferences and possibly your skin type: 

1.  Minimize sun exposure.  

Commit to expose your skin to the sun’s harmful UV at the bare minimum and only when needed.  You have to get a little bit of morning sunshine everyday to support your body’s production of Vitamin D.   Vitamin D is specially beneficial for bone health and development, prevents flu and heart disease, decreases risk for mood disorders and general feelings of tiredness.  Use sunscreen and antioxidants if sun exposure cannot be helped. 

2.  Skin Bleaching.  

This is the most common method of skin lightening employed by people with dark skin problems but also the bears the most risk for permanent skin discoloration. It is one of the possible causes of age spots too, but only because people like to DIY.  If you have decided to take this route, make sure to get the services of a qualified professional.  However, if you have darker skin, know that the risks of permanent discoloration is even higher for you. 

3.  Chemical Peels.

This lightening procedure uses controlled concentrations of chemicals to lighten skin.  The chemicals used depend on the results expected, patient’s skin type and the extent of damage that needs to be treated.  Choices range from mild to moderate chemicals like glycolic acid to strong chemical peels like trichloroacetic acid.  Take note that downtime is inevitable and will depend on the treatment chosen. 

3.  Laser treatments.  

Lasers’ high precision technology permit specific areas of the skin to be induced to turnover and be renewed, without affecting surrounding areas of skin.  Treatment may take several treatments that are evenly spaced before visible results can become noticeable. 

4.  Topical creams.

Skin lightening creams, ointments and lotions, and spot corrector s that contain hydroquinone can help lighten skin.  For some time now, the gold standard for wrinkle treatment, retinol, has also been found to effectively block the production and expression of melanin on skin. 

5.  Brightening face mask.  

These treatments soak the skin in lightening ingredients such as licorice or ingredients that have natural astringent properties like lemon or other Vitamin C-rich fruits. 

6.  Oral supplementation.

Pills that have high antioxidant content, including glutathione pills, are now also being used to lighten skin. However, it should be noted that the FDA has released a statement warning of possible overdose from glutathione and absolutely discourages the same from being injected. 

Dark skin: The real problem. 

Hyper pigmented skin which encompasses skin imperfections from patches of discoloration, acne marks, dark spots and age spots may either be superficially or deeply situated in the skin.  For marks situated on the epidermis, or the outer layer of the skin, the treatment prospects are high.  The farther the damage is burrowed in the skin, the more difficult it is to heal these skin imperfections.

Despite which, treatment of age spots and other dark marks is very much possible.  The real deterrent is in the ingredients used for whitening skin.  First, there was mercury, a metal known to cause cancer, which has been pulled out of all consumer goods.  Now, there’s hydroquinone, once tagged as the gold standard in skin lightening, many countries have banned this ingredient for its possible carcinogenic effects.  In the US, however, hydroquinone continues to be made available over-the-counter and by prescription only.

Age Spots: How to Get Rid of Them?

Conclusion.

“I think the bottom line of everything, even when we talk about healing this colorism issue in the world, is that it starts with healing yourself,” singer-songwriter India Arie was quoted as saying.  Even with age spots, if you’re not severely bothered of your age showing, why should you bother getting them treated?