It is embarrassing, watching those brown spots, huge ‘freckles’ and other signs of aging appear on your hands, arms and even your face.‚ ‚ Age spots, also known as sun spots, liver spots, lentigos, or lentigines, are flat, tan, brown, or dark brown spots on sun-exposed skin. As people grow older, sun spots most commonly appear on the backs of the hands, the forearms, neck, chest, and face. Sun spots are associated with sun exposure. The pigment producing cells in the skin (called melanocytes) are activated to produce more pigment (melanin) by ultraviolet rays. While these spots are not themselves cancerous, you may be at risk for skin cancer if you have them.

What causes age spots?

Age spots increase with age and with increased sun exposure. They are more common in people who freckle and who burn easily. It is important to know that if you’ve had enough sun to develop age spots, you have a higher risk of developing skin cancer.

What do age spots look like?

Age spots are flat and vary in size from a small pea to a dime. They usually are somewhat round and have irregular borders. They are found on chronically sun-exposed areas such as the shoulders, upper back, face, forearms, and the back of hands.

What treatment options are available for age, sun or liver spots?

The best treatment for age spots is prevention. The key to preventing age spots is sun avoidance and daily sunscreen use. For example, you won find age spots on your inner thigh because of minimal or no sun exposure. However, for most of us, it is too late for prevention, and there are a number of treatment options available.

From the age of 40 onwards the skin is less able to regenerate from sun exposure, and liver spots are very common in this age group, particularly in those who spend (or DID spend) a lot of time in the sun. They have been known to proliferate in some individuals under emotional distress.

In the vast majority of cases liver spots pose no threat, and no treatment is necessary. In a very few cases they have been known to obscure the detection of skin cancer.

Some people wish to have these spots removed as they consider them unsightly; this can be done by cryotherapy or laser treatment.

Protect your skin from the sun by taking the following precautions:
¢‚¬¢ Wear protective clothing such as hats, long-sleeved shirts, long skirts, or pants.
¢‚¬¢ Use sunglasses to protect the eyes.
¢‚¬¢ Sunlight is most intense at midday, so try to avoid exposure during these hours.
¢‚¬¢ Use high quality sunscreens, preferably with SPF (sun protection factor) ratings of at least 15. Apply sunscreen at least a half hour before exposure, and reapply frequently. Use sunscreen in the winter, too.

More and more we are discovering topical products that fade and reduce the size and color of age spots.‚ Some of these products do not work and some are extremely expensive.‚ Do your homework, faithfully use the products as directed and you should see significant results in fading.

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Beverly Vines-Haines is the Marketing, Research and Text Coordinator for Healing Leaf LLC.‚ This is a company that tackles the toughest skin and nail conditions known to man.‚ A best-selling author for years before she became a part of Healing Leaf LLC, she is dedicated to natural healing and creating pure products that are both safe and earth friendly. For more information about these effective products, visit www.NoFungusAmongUs.com.

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