During cryotherapy, the patches freeze and the pigment breaks down.
Virtually anyone can develop age spots, and eventually just about everyone does. Those brown, gray, or black spots that appear with age are not so much the result of years of growth, but the result of overexposure to the sun. It’s better to take steps to prevent these spots than to try to remove them later, but if that’s not possible, there are a variety of methods that can remove age spots.
A chemical peel can be used to burn away layers of skin so new skin can replace it, removing age spots.
The spots are usually found on the parts of the body that have been most exposed to ultraviolet rays. They are common on the face, arms, backs of the hands, shoulders, and upper back. To begin the age spot removal process, you should first consult a qualified dermatologist to make sure the age spots aren’t something more serious. This is especially pertinent for fair-skinned people and those who notice a spot that seems to come out of nowhere, is raised, or has jagged edges.
Age spots often appear on the hands, face, and shoulders of people over 55 years of age.
If you want to remove an age spot, keep in mind that this is considered a cosmetic procedure and will most likely not be covered by insurance. For this reason, if cost is a factor, you may want to simply cover the age stain rather than remove it. Doctors can prescribe bleaching creams that sometimes wear off, and steroids are also a possibility. Over-the-counter creams are less effective, and as a rule, their effectiveness will be minimal at best.
Suspected age spots should be examined by a dermatologist to confirm that they are age spots and not something more serious.
Treatments to remove age spots permanently are generally not dangerous, however they can be prohibitively expensive. A group of melanin, the skin pigment that causes you to tan, causes the spots. Laser therapy can destroy these areas of excessive melanin production and will not damage the skin’s surface. Several laser treatments will be required to completely remove the age spots, and the dark area should disappear over the course of several months.
To lighten age spots, it is important that creams and other remedies are used regularly.
Other age spot removal methods include cryotherapy, a procedure that freezes the dark area and removes unwanted pigment. There is a small danger that cryotherapy will leave a scar. In dermabrasion, a brush will rotate over your skin and remove its surface, removing the pigment that is causing the age spot. You will have a scab upon completion, but the age spot should be gone by the time the scab is gone. Chemical peels use an acid solution to burn away the outer layers of skin to the point of aging, after which new skin will replace the discolored skin.