eTopical Precious Finds
How to you treat age spots on hands? Without a good hand cream to remove them, they will always give away your age. What causes age spots on arms? Are there ways on how to remove them? There are many treatments for age marks including hand creams. Let’s find out the best creams for fading them.
What Causes Age Spots on Hands?
When dealing with the signs of aging, most people will pay attention to the face and neglect the hands. However, hands that are not well taken care of will render all efforts made on the face irrelevant as the hands will always give you away. It is therefore important to understand what causes age spots on hands so as to be in a position to get rid of them and have the hands have a corresponding look with that of the face.
The primary cause of age spots is over-exposure of the skin to UV rays. In normal circumstances, skin cells produce just enough skin pigmentation. When one gets exposed to the sun, there is an accelerated rate of melanin production. This makes the skin to produce more pigmentation so as to protect the underlying skin layers.
Where some parts of the skin have had prolonged exposure, melanin is produced in high concentrations that are localized. This is what is seen as age spots. The age spots could group or appear in isolation. They differ in size. Other situations that would have similar effects include tanning beds and tanning lamps. They are most prominent in people with fair skin.
Raised Age Spots on Hands
While most age spots on hands are flat, there are some that are raised. Seborrheic keratoses are slightly raised and larger than normal age spots. Another type that is raised is Lentigo maligna. These normally have irregular shape and get bigger and darker with time. These may be a sign of skin cancer.
How to Remove Age Spots from Hands
When age spots become a cosmetic concern, it is important to employ ways that will help get rid of them. The discoloration caused by these spots is on the skin’s topmost layer. Forms of treatment should therefore penetrate this layer. Below are various ways on how to remove age spots from hands.
Bleaching creams: These are for topical application and help to remove age spots. These contain active ingredients that help to lighten parts of skin with different pigmentation. They contain hydroquinone or retinoids. Steroids can also be used.
Laser therapy: This works by destroying the melanin producing cells. They fade the spots gradually and a number of four to six sessions may be necessary to clear up the spot completely.
Cryotherapy: This involves freezing using liquid nitrogen. This destroys the skin that has excess pigmentation. This gives room for the skin to heal and form new and lighter pigmentation. It Is used on individual spots as opposed to the whole face.
Dermabrasion: This method of spots removal involves sanding off of the top layer of the skin. This is done using a rapidly rotating wire brush. Microdermabrasion is a milder process of the same which makes use of crystals. One may experience temporary scabbing when heals with time.
Chemical peel: This makes use of acidic concentrations to peel the skin. This way the top layer is removed and thus goes away with the spots. As the skin heals, new and evenly toned skin is formed on the hands.
Treatment for Age Spots on Hands
Over exposure of the hands to the sun could lead to formation of age spots. There are various forms of treatment for age spots on hands. These vary and are best chosen while putting individual characteristics of the spots into consideration. What may work for slight discoloration may not be efficient for darker spots.
There are treatments that should only be done by professional medical practitioners. Laser resurfacing is one of them. It makes use of light to get rid of the spots. This leads to the formation of a crust over the treated area. With time it will slough off and new skin will form.
Chemical peels could also be used to treat age spots. These involve the use of acidic chemicals to burn the top layer of the skin. How deep the peel goes depends on the strength of the peel. The stronger it is the deeper it will penetrate. The skin on the hands peel off with time to reveal healthier skin.
Dermabrasion employs the skin sanding technique. With the use of a rotating brush, the spots on the hands are sloughed off. This wounds the skin. As it heals, new skin is formed. More than one session may be necessary to get rid of the spots completely.
Liquid nitrogen can also be used as treatment for age spots. It is used to freeze the spots. This will reveal a lighter skin on the hands. This is known as cryotherapy.
Hand Cream for Age Spots
A convenient way of getting rid of age spots is by the use of hand cream for age spots. These contain elements that help in rejuvenating the skin and which play a great role in the elimination of age spots. These contain bleaching elements that will help to peel off the skin with time.
These creams take a while to take effect. One may be required to use them for several months for results to be seen. They should be used according to manufacturer instructions for the best results. Where one uses a cream and it does not seem to have effect on the skin, discontinue usage and seek alternative treatment.Once the spots are gone, one may want to use anti aging hand creams to keep the skin nourished and looking young.
