Most ‘Age Spots’ are Sun Spots
A lot of my patients ask me about age spots, but what they are really mostly asking about are sun spots. There are some age spots which are these stuck-on appearing bumps, which look almost as if you could pick them off with your finger. Those are called seborrheic keratosis, and those are bumps that come around middle age, and we’re not quite sure what they are from. They’re warty-like growths which can be frozen off.
Generally though what most people are asking about when they ask about age spots are really sun spots. They are either freckles, which we call ephelides, or they are solar lentigos. These spots are caused by the sun and tend to accumulate with more sun exposure and tend to grow if we don’t treat them.
Lasers are the Ideal Treatment
Lasers are ideal for taking these off. Because the melanin pigment is designed to absorb light, almost any color of laser light can be used to take away brown spots. There are a number of lasers which may be used for this. For example, the Q-switched lasers are very safe and treat the surface of the skin. In my office I use the 532nm Nd:YAG laser, which is a green light laser. You can also use the 1064 Nd:YAG laser which is an invisible, infrared laser. You can use the 755nm Alexandrite Q-switched laser or the 694 Ruby Q-switched laser. One can use the Perfecta, which is a pulsed-dye laser with a compression hand piece. There are also the Intense Pulsed Light sources. IPLs are good at removing brown spots.
Get Checked for Skin Cancer
The most important thing prior to getting your brown spots or liver spots lasered off is to go to the dermatologist and get looked at. This is especially important if you’re being treated by a non-dermatologist. The reason for this is that some brown spots may look perfectly harmless to you, but may actually be cancers or pre-cancers and need to be evaluated by a dermatologist.
If you get these treated with laser, the danger is that they will be partially removed and the doctor won’t be able to tell if it’s cancerous or not. So it’s extremely important to be seen by a dermatologist to have those checked. If they are benign, you can safely have them removed.
To learn about getting rid of age spots, see: Laser Treatment for Age Spots, & Choosing a Doctor
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