Age Spots

Age spots, liver spots, senile lentigines or solar lentigines are a common problem with ageing. It appears that people may be genetically predisposed to getting age spots. The most obvious causes are skin damage from exposure to the sun and age spots most prevalent on the, face, décolleté, hands, arms and back.

Cutaneous ageing signs such as age spots become visible from as early as the twenties, especially with excessive sun or environmental exposure. However between the ages of 35 to 49 years there is a sharp increase in prevalence of skin changes clearly ascribable to photo-aging such as pigmented spots and discolouration of skin. Awareness of the damaging effect of UV radiation on the facial appearance and sun avoidance and protection before the age of twenty will help reduce the risks for developing age spots later in life.

Ageing skin unsettles women more than men; because society believes a woman loses her attractiveness once visible signs of ageing set in. Characteristics of skin facial aging include fine and coarse wrinkle formation, pigmentation changes, sallow colour, dry texture, loss of elasticity, loss of skin tone, sagging subcutaneous tissues, underlying muscle hypertrophy and volume loss in the face.

Photo ageing caused by ultraviolet light exposure tends to act more on the surface of the skin. There are sun freckles or age spots and dilated blood vessels (often referred to as "broken" blood vessels) that lead to an overall uneven tone and discolouration.

Home therapies: At Body Renewal we offer traditional topical home therapies such as AHA s, PHA s, Kojic Acid and Hydroquinone to treat age spots as well as advances in pigmentation technology such as the recently launched Luminesce brightening range by Lamelle.

Luminesce, an advanced pigmentation program which age spots by reducing melanin at several points in its production, as opposed to just one point as with other treatments.

Properties and benefits of Luminesce:

• This wider inhibitory effect is an industry first, positioning the Luminesce range as one of the most innovative.
• Lamelle uses groundbreaking peptide technology (Oligopeptide 34) for treating pigmentation and has recently added 3 new peptides to the program which offers excellent results in combating epidermal age spots and post inflammatory hyper- pigmentation ( PIH).
• An added benefit is that the combination of peptides used in the range offers anti-ageing benefits to the skin as they stimulate collagen producing cells.
• Luminesce used twice daily for 8 weeks will reduce the appearance of age spots and is safe for use on all skin types unlike traditional skin lightening cosmeceutical products as well as prescription medications
• These traditional products try combating age spots with disappointing results or worse - cause hypersensitive skin, which in turn aggravates the pigmentation

In Office therapies: At Body Renewal with the introduction photo rejuvenation treatments and exfoliation treatments such as Pearl™ laser, Limelight ™ , Photo Genesis ™, Acutip ™, Cryotherapy, Mela T and M peels by Lamelle, 35 % TCA spot treatments and Chemibrasion virtually any patient can be a candidate for a treatment of age spots and brightening of their skin depending on the area . As each patient's case is different; we will tailor a treatment program specifically for you and your circumstances and budget.

A highly professional team led by a medical doctor assesses every patient and an appropriate combination treatment together with long term maintenance program is recommended. The new concept today is to start with photo rejuvenation devices early so as to prevent the deterioration of skin colour and texture as one gets older.

Body Renewal Tip:

In Skin Type 1 and 2 patients with sever sun damage and exposure, age spots are also accompanied by pre cancerous lesions known as Actinic Keratoses. If these lesions are numerous, they are best treated with PDT/ALA combination therapy. PDT / ALA (Amino laevulic acid). This method appears to be effective in removing 91 % of lesions and is useful in areas where the AKs are extensive. The treatment can be repeated and the cosmetic effect is far superior to that achieved with cryotherapy. PDT/ALA is advantageous in patients with large and or multiple lesions in sites where disfigurement or poor healing from conventional therapies is a particular risk. PDT/ALA produces significant improvement in patients with AKs but downtime of a week can be expected. Remission can last from 1 to 2 years. An added benefit is skin rejuvenation.