As we age, our skin changes. Years of overexposure to the sun, wind, and cold can lead to skin discoloration. These dark patches are known as “sunspots.” These brown spots frequently show up on the face, décolleté, chest, hands, and legs. While the sun is the leading cause of brown spots, injuries to the skin, acne, and scars also leave their marks. No matter what type of dark spots you have, we have a treatment to help eliminate them.
IPL – Intense Pulse Light treatment is one of the best and fastest ways to rid your complexion of dark spots. After an IPL treatment, the dark spots come to the skin’s surface and flake away like dry skin. This treatment has virtually no downtime, with only some redness immediately after the procedure. However, the spots treated will become darker over the next several days until they flake off. Treating the entire face takes less than an hour. For best results, it is recommended that patients have 3-5 treatments about four weeks apart. Avoiding the sun and wearing sunscreen daily helps prolong the results of IPL.
PicoSure Laser – Laser resurfacing done with the PicoSure laser helps eliminate sunspots fast. It is even effective in lightening freckles. PicoSure has no downtime, but like all treatments for sun damage, multiple treatments are recommended. Once again, avoiding the sun and wearing sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher is crucial to maintaining a spot-free complexion.
Ablative and Non-Ablative Fractional Lasers– Sometimes called Fraxel, fractional lasers resurface the skin’s outer layers. They are very effective in treating fine wrinkles, scars, skin discolorations, and even stretch marks. However, both of these lasers require one to two weeks of healing time.
Chemical Peel – Chemical peels are an excellent option for patients with a light skin tone. Chemical peels help slough off the top layers of dead skin on the face and reduce dark spots’ appearance. However, for patients with olive or darker complexions, chemical peels may not be the best option, as they can cause hypopigmentation, which is the permanent lightening of the skin.
Hydroquinone – Hydroquinone is a topical cream that lightens dark areas on the skin. Over time this treatment will fade acne scars and sunspots. While hydroquinone is offered over the counter in a low concentration, most patients find that a prescription cream is more effective.
Treatment for sun-damaged skin is as varied as the patients needing it. No one treatment works for all. Schedule a free consultation with one of our skincare experts at The Skin Care Center at Gulf Coast Plastic Surgery to see what treatment plan is best for you.
