As we age, most of us start to notice black, tan, and/or brown spots that are flat on the skin. These spots, called liver spots, or age spots, or by their scientific name, solar lentigines, develop in many people after age 50. They are most frequently found on the parts of the body that receive the most exposure to sunlight, like the arms, face, shoulders, and hands. While they are most common in people older than 50, younger people who receive excessive exposure to the sun can develop them earlier.*
FAQ on Sun / Age Spots Removal in Princeton New Jersey
How to Prevent Sun (Liver) Spots
While perhaps cosmetically undesirable, age spots do not require any kind of treatment, because they are completely harmless. While they might look scary, like possibly cancerous spots, their flat nature gives them away as benign, a merely cosmetic affliction. Various lightening techniques have proven effective, including skin bleaching, and they can also be removed. However, the best course of action is to prevent them from appearing. Limiting your exposure to the sun is the most effective and simplest way to keep your skin looking young by avoiding age spots altogether.
Who Is Most Susceptible to Getting Age Spots?
These spots most often appear in fair-skinned people, but darker-skinned people can get them as well. They are most noticeable on pale skin. They are characterized by dark oval shaped areas that are generally black, tan, or brown. The areas of the skin that are most often burned or even just tanned, like the shoulders, neck, back, and face, are where they appear most frequently and the greatest amount. They appear in a variety of sizes, from the size of the smallest freckle to about half an inch in diameter. One thing that makes them more noticeable is that they have a tendency to cluster in groups. The reason they appear on the areas of the skin that have gotten the most long-term sun exposure is because of ultraviolet (UV) rays present in sun light. UV light is also in the lights used in artificial tanning salons, so tanning beds are no healthier for your skin than the regular sun. So tanning beds and artificial lights contribute to the development of age spots as well.
The thing in skin that creates the color of your skin, or pigment, is called melanin. Melanin, when produced by the body in high concentrations, appears as age spots. It’s like the melanin all collects in one point. If you already developed sun / age spots you can go through a sun spot removal in NJ.*
What Are Pigmented Lesions, And How Do They Happen?
A pigmented lesion is any spot, like an age spot, birthmark, or other dark spot, where melanin has been produced in a higher concentration. Melanin production is what causes everyone’s shade of skin color. Melanin amount is as individual as personality; every individual has melanin in different amounts. The doctor will provide you with an evaluation of your skin and offer you information about what precise type of lesion you have. The areas of high concentration of melanin are influenced by a variety of different things. Sometimes some individuals are born with these lesions, called birthmarks. Most of these, though, occur with age, following too much exposure to UV rays. But don’t worry, we can help you remove sun spot damage in Princeton NJ.*
Can Laser Treatment Help All Types Of Age Spots. Sun Age Spot Removal in Princeton NJ
Light or Vi Peel treatment of age spots in Princeton NJ is commonly used to treat* what are called solar lentigines, the spots called liver spots, sun spots, or age spots, along with some freckles and café au lait birthmarks. Some of these are caused by over exposure to the sun, while some are caused by genetics. All of them are harmless. Café au lait birthmarks differ in appearance from age spots, often covering larger areas of skin, in a variety of shapes, with a lighter shade of pigment.*
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Will a Light Treatment Result in Long-lasting Removal of Skin Lesions in Princeton NJ?
When pigmented lesions are removed altogether, they are highly unlikely to reoccur. Café au lait birthmarks, though, are known to show up again upon too much sun exposure. Additionally, more age spots will appear as you age, but the same spots will not return. New ones, in a different pattern, of different sizes, will likely appear, but these spots are not a repeat visit of the previously removed age spots.
Does a LimeLight or Vi-Peel Treatment for Skin Sun Spots Cause Any Side Effects?
Often the area where a skin lesion is removed will not ever grow any hair again in the future. Another more temporary side effect is a darkening of the area of treatment; some crusting over the original lesion spot is also normal. Both of these things are likely to clear up within two weeks following treatment. Infrequently, people may experience drastic changes in skin pigment, but this, too, is temporary. Even with these side effects, though, most people who undergo treatment for age (sun) spots have fewer side effects than they would from the original spots.
What’s the Number of Treatments Required for the Average Age Spot Removal in Princeton NJ?
Each lesion is different, and each type of lesion requires, on average, a different number of treatments. The average solar lentigine needs one to three treatments, whereas a café au lait birthmark might require up to twelve treatments. The interval between treatments to remove age spots in Princeton NJ that is usually recommended is a full month.*
What Kind of Care Is Required After Treatment?
More sensitive skin might be relieved of some potential feelings of inflammation by one application of glucocorticoid cream, right after the treatment itself, supplemented by several days of application of antiseptic cream (chlorhexidine, 1%). Most important, patients need to stay out of the sun for at least a month after treatment, and should use sunscreen of at least SPF 30 during this month, at all times.*
Can treatments work for all types of skin lesions removal in Princeton New Jersey?
Laser treatments are effective in removal of most skin lesions in Princeton, from solar lentigines (sun spots or age spots, also called liver spots) to birthmarks. However, it is imperative to have a physician determine that the spots are in fact benign prior to treatment.*
*Disclaimer: Individual Results May Vary.