Age spots have several uncomplimentary names – they are called liver spots, or senile freckles as well. These are dark blemishes that appear on the skin of mature women due to normal aging of the skin and because of sun exposure. Most typically these age spots start to appear on the facial skin as well as the skin of the arms and shoulders after the age of 40. Though the spots on the arms and shoulders may not be troublesome, many women don’t like age spots on their faces.
The best thing to do is to protect the skin from the sun by using protective clothing and headgear or good quality sun screen. However this may not be possible or the age spots may already have appeared and you wish to get rid of them now. So how do you go about removing age spots from your face?
Exfoliating Products
Age spots are on the surface of the skin and by removing that external, outermost layer of the skin, it is possible to remove those spots as well. So, several types of exfoliating products can help in revealing the fresher layer of skin beneath the surface.
Products that contain glycolic acid are known to help remove the most superficial layer of the skin and minor spots and blemishes along with them. This ingredient is found in several over the counter products and may be useful.
Retin A is another ingredient found in over the counter as well as prescription products that could help with removing age spots. This also works to remove the outer layer of older, pigmented skin cells to reveal fresher skin beneath.
Bleaching the Skin
Bleaching products such as hydroquinone are also helpful. These products work simply by lightening the pigment of facial hair and skin so that the dark coloration is less visible.
Professional Treatments
Getting a treatment such as a chemical peel from a trained professional can also help – this again helps by revealing fresher layers of the skin that lie beneath. Demabrasion treatments (some liken the treatment to sandpapering the facial skin) work in a similar fashion and can also help to remove age spots.
Laser treatments can also help to remove age spots but these can be expensive and need a highly trained and experienced professional to perform them. Liquid nitrogen treatments can also be effective; however in some cases they could complicate matters by causing scarring.
