What Causes Age Spots?
The sun does. ‘Age spots’, or lentigines, are the brown spots that appear on your face and body as a result of overexposure to the sun. The ‘melanin pigment’ in our skin absorbs sunlight and helps naturally protect our skin from UV rays. However as we age, our skin's natural protection to the sun, begins to deteriorate, and age spots start to appear. These age spots can be effectively treated with lasers combined with medical skin care products such as Obagi Nu-Derm

What is happens to skin with unprotected exposure to the sun?
There are two type of brown spots that appear on the skin. They are known as solar lentigos (age spots) and freckles (ephiledes). These are a result of sun sun damaging the melanocytes which are the cells in the epidermis (the skin's outermost layer) that produce melanin pigment. Most of the cells in our epidermis are skin cells that form the dead skin layer as well as keratin that protects us from the outside world, but one in every tenth cell is a melanocyte which produces melanin pigment. This brown pigment is absorbed by our skin cells to help protect us against the sun. Lighter skinned people have less melanin than darker skinned people, as a result the skin does not know how to respond in sun, abnormal melanin pigment develops in the form of freckles and brown spots.

Age Spots are Sun Spots!
Age spots have nothing to do with how old you are, they are a result of the amount of time you've spent in the sun unprotected.

Are they Cancerous?
The most important thing if you see any brown spot develop on your skin is to not assume that it’s benign. If they change in size, shape, color, are asymmetric, crusty, bleed or feel itchy see a doctor!

Does tanning does cause age spots?
Oposite to what most people think, tanned skin is not healthy skin. It is our body’s way of telling us our skin has been damaged, and it is trying to protect itself from more damage. UVA and UVB light exposure leads to age spots (solar lentigines), sun spots, liver spots, poikiloderma (reddish–brown areas of discoloration) and melasma (mottled brownish areas).

Prevention is Possible
Preventing age spots requires sun avoidance and sun protection in the form of sunscreen at all times. Winter and Summer! This will help to stop further damage.

What treatments are available?
Combing laser treatments such as Fraxel, Intense Pulse Light or Pro-fractional with regular and consistent use of Obagi Nu-Derm Medical Products, works to improve complexion damaged by skin imperfections such as sun spots, uneven pigmentation, sun damage, photoaging. It is possible to reverse the damaged caused by the sun.