Age spots, commonly referred to as liver spots, on the backs of your hands can cause you to keep your hands in your pockets instead of reaching out to shake hands with new-found friends or business acquaintances. Caused by an overexposure to the sun, the pigmentation turns odd-shaped areas of skin to varying shades of brown. Using a good sunscreen can reduce the risk of developing age spots on the hands. Once they appear, however, there, are also several things you can do to reduce their appearance or make them disappear.
Step 1
Cover the age spots with a foundation makeup. Match the shade to your skin tone, and apply a light coat of cover-up to dry, clean skin over the age spot area. Gently rub the make-up material across the skin and blend so that its lines are not noticeable. Reapply after swimming, bathing, dishes or any other activity that causes your hands to get wet.
Step 2
Make an appointment with a dermatologist to discuss removal options. Your doctor has several tools at his disposal, including skin sanding, burning off with acids, electric needle treatment and chemical freezing. Ask the doctor which method he believes would be best in your situation. Take the information home about each choice to evaluate and think about.
Step 3
Discuss each option with a loved one or a close friend. Understand that each of the options, with the exception of laser treatments will damage your skin and could leave it with a lighter pigmentation than the surrounding areas, once the age spot is removed. Determine whether the age spots bother you enough to take that risk and pay for removal, or if simply using a cover-up method would work for you.
Step 4
Choose the option that you want used to remove your age spots. Schedule an appointment to have them removed. Arrange for follow-up care after the removal process is complete. Keep that appointment to be sure you are healing properly and to avoid infection.
Step 5
Avoid sun exposure on the back of your hands to reduce the risk of the age spots returning on other areas. Use a sunscreen, not only on your face, legs, arms and shoulders, but also on your hands to minimize the skin damage the sun can cause.
Photo Credit
- hands image by isatori from Fotolia.com
