Age spots have a lot of names: senile lentigines, liver spots, and solar lengitines. Whatever you want to call them, they’re a common beauty wrecker among people whose age goes beyond the calendar. Worse, there are people who are genetically predisposed when it comes to age spots. Some age spots are also known to be caused by intense sun exposure. What to do when you have age spots? There are a lot of things you can do, in fact. If you feel like age spots are slowly morphing you into a “human-cheetah,” read on before the spots serve as your most dreaded camouflage.

Biologically speaking, the process that places age spots on your skin is controlled by your body’s natural physiological pattern. It varies from one person to another. This article will focus on the prevention of age spots and will give you suggestions on ways you could get rid of them. Treatments can be done at home or at a cosmetic studio.

Before treating your age spots, knowledge is always power. People aged 40 and beyond are commonly the ones who get clusters and clusters of age spots. This happens because the skin of middle-aged people tends to regenerate slowly. When metabolism and regeneration slow down, you get age spots because the dead skin will obviously stay around much longer. Aside from age spots, metabolism and regeneration also affect scars, wrinkles, blemishes, and fat. Fear not – there are ways you can prevent them from controlling how you look. Just read on and learn.

Don’t Soak Up The Sun!

Don’t listen to Sheryl crow singing “I’m gonna soak up the sun…” To soak up the sun means that you’re soaking up age spots! Sun overexposure will damage your skin and cause it to have erratic pigmentation. Sometimes, it could even get liver spots, resembling scar tissue.

Wear Protective Gear

Of course, it’s impossible for people to escape the sun’s harmful rays. Hence, protective gear has been invented by ingenious fashion designers around the world. The elements are getting harsher, which means that you must dress well if you wish to embrace the outdoors. There are countless protective garments out there, so there’s no excuse. Put on long pants, a skirt, a turtleneck, long sleeves and perhaps a windbreaker or that foldable umbrella that Rihanna is whining about. If you wish to parade around in bare skin, then find some SPF. Wearing sunscreen with a high SPF will protect your skin.

Get Straight A’s From AHAs

AHA is an acronym you’ll definitely encounter in a lot of skin products (with good reason). Many experts consider Alpha Hydroxy Acid as the age spot cream. AHAs are made from fruit and selected dairy products that are concocted to be topically applied on the skin. Beauty creams that have AHA are used for a number of skin nuisances like wrinkles, scars and acne. The AHAs get rid of age spots by disintegrating the cells that bind the epidermal layers. This, in turn, sloughs off the dead skin that builds up and allows newer skin to take their place.

Retinoids

Among all the vitamins and minerals, it’s Vitamin A that’s the most essential human nutrient because it’s actually the fuel for the body to regulate the skin cell’s growth rate. Few people know that Vitamin A, in potent dosages, accelerates the body’s natural exfoliating process when placed directly on the skin. There is no way, except the chemical lab, that you can obtain a potent dosage of pure Vitamin A. However, you can purchase Retinoids. Retinoids are synthetic substances that are derived from Vitamin A and are specifically made to treat age spots, scars, liver spots and wrinkles. This is the common treatment used by many dermatologists, so surf the net and find out how you can get your own.

Chemical Peels

As you may have noticed, there are many skin peels available in over-the-counter outlets and beauty shops. However, it’s best to consult your dermatologist or pharmacists to find out which chemical peel formula best suits your skin type. Best yet, you may want a professional to perform the chemical peel on you. There are countless testimonials online about people who tried chemical peels at home and many of these experiences are rants. If you can afford it, it’s best to have this done to you by an expert so that you won’t be one of those people who suffered from wounds due to malpractice (some people even ended up peeling their skin away. Ouch!).

There are three main medical procedures for the eradication of age spots.

• Soft Tissue Augmentation – In this procedure, collagen is injected through your skin so that the skin appearance improves. Collagen is actually a naturally occurring substance that’s present in the body. In biology, it’s defined as the binder that augments the construction of new skin cells.
• Microdermabrasion – This is commonly mentioned in many skin articles. The procedure is done by gently running a metal brush with very fine bristles against your skin to pull off the dead skin on problem areas. After this procedure, some intensive cleansing agents are applied that motivate the skin to develop fresh skin cells.
• Non-Abrasive Rejuvenation – This is a new skin rejuvenation technology that incorporates a non-abrasive procedure. Say goodbye to manual skin brushing when you sign up for this. It makes use of natural pulses of light that can revive dying cells. This stimulates the existing cells the same way plants respond to photosynthesis. This is done by sessions rather than all at once. Many experts recommend this procedure to be done ten to eight times. Just like the other medical procedures, the treatment comes with applications of skin creams that are rich in vitamins.

The only factor that differentiates the three is price. Obviously, the home remedies are much cheaper. However, if you want instant results, then it’s best if you consult your local dermatologist for an intensive medical treatment. If you’re dealing with semi-age spots caused by sun damage, better stick to the home treatments for practical purposes.