A skin spot by another name…
Filed Under Anti-Aging
Despite the moniker, old age is not necessarily the reason behind age spots: the darks splotchy areas common on the skin of people 55 or older. In most cases, the actual culprits behind these unsightly spots are the ultraviolet rays of the sun. Perhaps this makes the alternate term: sunspot, a more appropriate name.
Frolicking is the sunshine is not the only guilty pleasure that causes your skin to spot. Smoking, refined sugars, junky fast food and a diet that lacks vitamins are also accomplices in helping make these so called age spots appear on your skin, no matter how far away your retirement is. Perhaps they could be called poor living spots.
Lipofuscin is a granular pigment responsible for darkening our skin and causing these unsightly spots to appear. They come from body parts that aid in the digestion and elimination process, and are seen as “wear and tear” pigments that are given off. Our liver in one of the organs that produces lipofuscin, which is why the brown splotches on the skin are sometimes called liver spots.
Aside from being called age spots, sunspots and liver spots, these skin creatures have been also called brown spots and lentigo. I do not know why they have never been called lipofuscin spots.
Since they are a skin condition the what ever you care to call them spots are easier to prevent than to get rid of. Eating a well balanced diet rich in antioxidants and low in saturated fats and refined sugars is good away from preventing the premature emergence of these unsightly spots. Orange vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes and leafy greens like spinach and collard greens will help keep your skin looking nice well into old age. These foods are rich in powerful antioxidants which will help fight off the free radical damage caused by the sun. General clean, healthy living and keeping yourself out of the sun are also good preventative measures.
If your fun or sun loving lifestyle has already caught up with you, there is some good news. There are ways to fade these spots away by using several available products on the market today. A mild bleaching agent, hydroquinone, will help you lighten these spots along with scars and freckles. Topical Vitamin A, found is some prescription versions of hydroquinone, will also help fade the scar away.
If you have a really ugly age spot in a very conspicuous space you might have to get “serious” with a more invasive removal technique. Chemical peels with 80 % glycol acid solution have become a popular skin treatment. This procedure simply removes several layers of skin to help downgrade the appearance of the spot.
Laser resurfacing is another procedure that you might want to consider to get. Sophisticated Lasers are used to burn the spots away. Laser resurfacing, however, only works when there is a contrast of colors. Dark spots on dark skin are more resilient to the blast of a targeted laser than dark spot on light skin.
Most age spots are harmless, but some just might be pretending to be harmless dark skin spots. If a spot thickens and changes color, itches or bleeds be sure to have a dermatologist check it out. Irregular spots that grow and spread are early signs of skin cancer.
Yulia Berry is an independent health researcher and author of the best selling e-books Aloe – Your Miracle Doctor and ‘Pharmacy in Vegetables’. She distributes a weekly newsletter regarding great home remedies and has written dozens of natural health articles published on hundreds of websites worldwide. Yulia Berry’s new ebook Unlocked Secrets of Curative Garlic to be released soon. Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/skin-care-articles/a-skin-spot-by-another-name-1514124.html
