Tips For Removing Age Spots

What are Age Spots?

Otherwise known as liver spots or solar lentigines, age spots are skin irregularities that appear in dark, brown or gray pigments. Age spots commonly affect regions of the hands, face, shoulders, neck, chest, and upper-back regions of the body.

What are the major causes of age spots?

Melanin (which is contained in the epidermis layer of the skin) is the pigment responsible for giving colors to the skin and hairs on the body. When the skin is overly exposed to the sun, UV rays react on the skin resulting in hyperpigmentation.

Freckles, age spots, sunburns, and hyperpigmentation occur when specific parts of the body are excessively exposed to harsh sunlight.

Symptoms of age spots

People above the age of 40 years fall victim to hyperpigmentation.

Especially those with lighter skin who have had a history of excessive sun exposure. Symptoms of age spots are seen when:

1. Brown or black pigments show on the skin

2. Spots are flat and oval-shaped

3. Affected areas are painless

4. Liver spot sizes range from freckles to more than half-inch

How to treat age spots and hyperpigmentation

In combatting age or liver spot conditions, there are two major skin treatments. They include:

Medical procedures

Medical procedures are an effective way of treating liver spots. But these procedures have varying health risks and complications. Some widely used medical procedures are:

• Dermabrasion. Affected skin areas are sanded with a fast-spinning brush and a new skin layer grows in replacement.

• Chemical peel. Acid is applied to peel age spots away from the epidermis layer of the skin. Here, the skin is vulnerable to discoloration.

• Cryotherapy. Liquid nitrogen is applied to freeze the secretion of melanin pigments. This treatment may temporarily irritate skin layers or leave permanent scars behind.

• Laser light therapy. Melanin-producing cells are killed without damaging the epidermis. It often results to slight skin discoloration if skin is not properly shielded from sunlight.

Natural treatments

Medical procedures are quite effective but are often regarded as “unsafe” by some skin care experts because of the negative effect they have on varying sensitive skins. This is why skin care experts regard any product that is brewed from pure natural ingredients as the best skin treatment for age spot removal. A blend of natural herbs and vitamins are also proven “safe” for all sensitive skin types.

Abbey St Clare – whose skin and body care products are well known to be made from pure natural ingredients only - launched a new botanical-based product recently: The Fade Skin Brightener. This age spot cream basically reduces melanin pigments and lightens up freckled or spotted areas of the skin.

Botanical-based ingredients necessary for age spots

Before launching Fade Skin Brightener, a series of laboratory tests were performed on numerous alpine plants. Only a few of these herbs were selected for highly effective skin lightening and tyrosinase-inhibiting abilities. Some of active ingredients of Fade Skin Brightener include:

1. Tyrosinase inhibitors: Derived from primrose, melissa, hops, veronica, peppermint leaf, marshmallow, sage and ginseng roots. This mix inhibits tyrosinase and nourishes skin components in general.

2. Daisy extracts: A multifunctional tyrosinase inhibitor which is derived from bellis perennis. Daisy extract is capable of altering pathways in melanin formation.

3. Oligopeptide: A nourishing blend of several amino and fatty acids that is highly effective for anti-aging and skin-lightening functions.

4. Niacinimide: Rich in vitamin B3 and nicotinic acid. This duo effectively helps inhibit transfer of melanosome into keratinocytes.

5. Alpha Arbutin: Derived from yeasts and has high skin-lightening effects on all skin types.