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A lot of what we think of as aging changes on our skin are actually the results of sun damage. This includes, uneven pigmentation and age spots (also called sun freckles or liver spots), wrinkles, thin skin, rough texture, dryness and scale. To understand what aging alone does to skin, look at parts of your body that have had very little sun exposure and compare them to the parts of your skin that have had a lot of sun exposure. Sun protected areas such as your buttock, your tummy or the under surface of your arms age by becoming finely crinkled and dry, and may develop crusty pink brown age spots that I call barnacles (really called seborrheic keratosis). Compare that to the way your skin looks on the sun exposed areas such as your face, the sides of your neck or the outer surface of your arms. Here the skin may have crinkles and barnicles, but it also has wrinkles, freckles, is so thin that there is possibly visible ‘broken' capillaries, is saggy, and possibly more fragile. You get an excellent picture of age related changes versus sun induced skin changes.
Fortunately, whether you have just aging skin, or aging skin with sun damage, the same skin care products will help with all of these changes:
- Uneven pigmentation and brown age spots can be lightened with alpha hydroxy
acids and exfoliation. I expecially like glycolic acid (as in our many
Glycolic Acid products and kits)
for lightening pigmentation and age spots. Exfoliating products will help buff off
age spots and for this I like products such as Replenix Scrub
and our Body Rejuvenation Kit,
the Salux Cloth
and Buf Pufs.
- The reason I like glycolic acid over the other alpha hydroxy acids is that it
is the best for loosing the cells in the age spots. I've had a lot of experience
with glycolic acid products over the years and the products I have at
OTBSkinCare.com
have been the best and most effective glycolic acid products for
my patients and for my own skin. I discuss this in detail with the information
that I include with the Facial Rejuvenation Kits with AHA's
and the Body Rejuvenation Kit.
Lactic acid is another widely available alpha hydroxyl
acid and Am Lactin Cream is my second choice, after the glycolic acid products
that I just mentioned. It is available at many retail pharmacies without
prescription.
- Prescription creams that contain retinoids (such as Retin-A, Renova and generic
tretinoin cream) are also very helpful for lightening pigmentation and age spots,
but require a prescription. Lastly, without sun protection, age spots and uneven
pigmentation will never lighten.
- Wrinkle treatment products are discussed in my advice for wrinkle
treatment. There are so many options and this complex topic deserves its own
section. Please see skin care treatment for wrinkles.
- Lastly, to really lighten age spots and uneven pigmentation, you must use
sun protection. It is important to wear a sunscreen
on all exposed parts of your skin and the sun block product must block all the
aging UVA and UVB sun waves. All of our sunscreen products do! Remember, you need
sun protection every day because UVA rays come through windows, and they will
darken age spots!
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