Leading-Edge Age Spot Treatments
The natural aging process throws so many surprises at us that it can be hard to keep count. Next to the wrinkles, sunken hands, deflated cheeks, and sagging skin, there’s age spots to deal with—flat, discolored splotches on your face, neck, shoulders, and elsewhere. These liver spots, as they’re sometimes called, are usually harmless, but any spot that is new or changing should be checked before it is treated, and they can affect how confident we feel. Thankfully, age spots can be treated at Ganger Dermatology.
Treatment Options for Age Spots
Your skin is made up of nearly 300 million individual cells. Hyperpigmentation (the discoloration of skin cells) has numerous causes. Overexposure to UV radiation contributes to brown, black, or tan age spots. At Ganger Dermatology, we offer two different approaches to achieving clearer skin.
First, our liquid nitrogen treatment (cryotherapy) uses a cotton swab to freeze and destroy these unwanted pigments. Alternatively, we can break up gatherings of discolored skin cells with BroadBand Light (BBL). Because different colors absorb light at different rates, darker pigments absorb more light and, therefore, heat. BBL wavelengths target discolored cells while leaving surrounding tissue unharmed, scattering hyperpigmented cells and leaving smooth and naturally-colored skin in their place.
Benefits of Age Spot Treatment
- Non-Invasive
- Comfortable
- Quick & easy appointments
- Improved confidence
- More even skin tone
Age Spot Treatment FAQs
You may have seen liquid nitrogen used in impressive science experiments or even used it yourself for keeping food in a cooler. Contrary to its depiction in Hollywood and elsewhere, liquid nitrogen isn’t nearly as dangerous as it seems. At Ganger Dermatology, we’ll dip the tip of a cotton swab in liquid nitrogen. Afterward, we’ll use the swab to coat your age spot—a matter of 5 seconds at most. As such, there’s simply not enough time for pronounced discomfort. At most, you may feel a slight cooling sensation in the treatment area.
A spot that clears after treatment usually stays faded, but the sun exposure that caused it continues, so new spots can appear over time. Daily sunscreen is part of keeping the result. The melanin that gives your eyes, hair, and skin color is simply a natural pigment produced by the body. Exposure to UV radiation and other factors can cause melanin to gather in groups of skin cells. But the heat from BBL treatments disbands and eliminates this pigment, which is then processed out of your body by your lymphatic system over the coming days.
A true age spot — a solar lentigo — is a harmless cluster of pigment caused by sun exposure. It is not skin cancer and does not turn into skin cancer. The important caveat is that some skin cancers can look like an age spot: lentigo maligna, an early form of melanoma, often appears as a flat brown patch on sun-exposed skin, and a pigmented actinic keratosis can look similar. That is why we examine a spot before treating it cosmetically. If a spot is new, is changing in size, shape or color, has an irregular border or more than one shade, or itches, crusts or bleeds, have it evaluated rather than treated.
Clearer Skin at Every Age
The aging process affects us all, but there’s a difference between simply aging and aging gracefully. Confidence is key at every stage of life, and when age spots begin to appear, they can impact your sense of self. At Ganger Dermatology, we offer treatments that fade and remove age spots, no matter where they occur.
Rediscover clearer skin and renewed confidence with treatments like cryotherapy and BBL. Proudly serving patients of all ages in Ann Arbor, Plymouth, and Wixom, MI, we’re here to help you embrace your best skin at every stage. Schedule your appointment today to find the age spot treatment that’s right for you.
