Are Your Hands Giving Away Your Age?
Age spots, thin skin and a bony appearance are the telltale signs of aging on your hands. Our hands go through the same aging process as our faces. Over time, exposure to sun causes skin damage and age spots. Loss of volume makes our tendons stick out and our hands look bony. If we can improve our faces, why not help our hands?
Brown spotting on our hands can be improved in several ways. A topical lightening cream with hydroquinone or kojik acid will gradually lighten the skin, but it can take a long time–weeks or even months. Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatments work faster. After every session, your brown spots will look lighter. The creams and IPL need no healing period, unlike the more aggressive, but most effective laser treatments, like the CO2 or q-switched lasers.
Keep in mind, all methods to lighten brown spots share one limitation: If you spend a lot of time in the sun, the brown spots will come back. So if you want to get rid of age spots for good, an effective sunscreen or gloves are a must when you are in the sun.
Loss of subcutaneous fat causes the tendons and bones of our hands to become more visible. We can replace that lost volume with fat transferred from the abdomen or thighs. As most of us know, abdominal fat doesn’t age away. It lasts. To transfer fat, a delicate process of liposuction collects the fat, which is purified and re-injected under the skin.
If you’re not sure about a fat transfer, you can try a filler like Radiesse©. Fillers last about a year, and the injection procedure takes only a few minutes.
Now you know what to do with time on your hands: Give them back a youthful look.
