How Can I Lighten Age Spots?

As we get older, the chances of developing "age" or "liver" spots increases. In fact, if you are over age 55, chances are you may have seen some changes in your skin. Age spots are most commonly found on the hands, arms, shoulders and face. The most common way to lighten age spots is through the use of over the counter prescriptions that can be administered by your doctor or dermatologist. That said, there are plenty of natural home remedies that you can try to help those age spots fade before you invest the money into a doctor's visit.

It should be noted that if you really want to reduce the potential for future age spots developing, you should limit your exposure to the sun and when you are outside, wear sun screen. You may be predispositioned to developing age spots thanks to heredity but your risk of age spots forming will be raised the longer you are exposed to the sun (which is primarily why these spots are most likely found in people over the age of 55.)

It should also be noted that many of the common bleaching creams out there have their own set of risks to consider. In this hub, I intend to show some of the more common methods to lightening age spots and will focus both on the OTC treatments which are most common as well as some of the home remedies.

One of the most common ways to lighten up age spots is to use the same thing that we as teenagers used to treat acne; retinol A, also known as Alpha Hydroxy acid. This treatment can help diminish the spots of hyperpigmentation and can be found over the counter, although the retinol over the counter is less powerful than prescription form.

However, it does work fairly well on age spots that are minimal in size.

Another common method to help lighten up age spots is to use a face peel, like a citric acid peel. Once again, this works well on smaller spots.

Incidentally, both of these techniques work because they employ the use of Vitamin C, which happens to be beneficial to the skin because it both helps repair skin damage and is all in all, good for the skin.

In fact, almost all home remedies for age spots employ the use of absorbic acid into the method. The most common home remedy is the use of lemon juice. Their effectiveness if questionable at best.

Perhaps the best known way to reduce age spots using creams is hydroquinone which is a very common ingredient in many bleaching creams. It works BUT there are some potential harmful side effects associated with it; so much so that many countries have banned it from use. Many darker cultures have used hydroquinone to actually whiten their skin and when used as a way to eliminate darker age spots, the potential for overbleaching is there.

Hydroquinone is best used to treat age spots for people with fair skin because of this.

There are some treatments that a dermatologist can do for people who want to reduce age spots on their skin. There are 3 that are most common....

1. Chemical Face Peels- These typically take more than one visit but are highly effective.
2. Laser Resurfacing- This is the most common treatment for age spots but the end result could be even lighter skin in spots.
3. Intense Pulsed Light- This is a newer procedure and actually is done more to help remove spider veins. Like a face peel, this treatment could take several visits to see good results.