How To Prevent Age And Liver Spots

When discussing how to age gracefully, more often than not the focus is on how to eliminate wrinkles and keep the skin smooth. While a good wrinkle reducing cream can work wonders on smoothing over fine lines in the skin, you may have noticed that wrinkles aren’t the only thing that can make your skin look old.

You may have noticed that the elderly often have small brown spots speckling their hands, arms, chests or faces. These speckles have plenty of different names — age spots, liver spots, sun spots — but they’re all the same thing (and have nothing to do with your liver organ!). They also have nothing to do with age; anyone can develop them, and their main cause is sun damage to the skin. If you want to avoid developing age spots, you need to form some good sun habits while you’re young.

Avoid too much direct sunlight.

Yes, you need Vitamin D to stay healthy, which you can get from the sun. But you can also get it from a daily multivitamin, and that won’t cause skin damage. If you must be outside for extended periods of time, wear a wide-brimmed hat, clothing that covers up your skin, and sunglasses, and try to stay in the shade as much as possible. Remember, you can still burn on a cloudy day.

Apply sunblock (and reapply it every hour).

Sunblock is basically the best anti aging cream for women out there — if you apply it consistently, you will not have to worry as much about deep wrinkles and fine lines, because they won’t be a problem for you! If staying in the shade or covering up isn’t an option, grab the highest SPF you can find and get to slathering it on. If you’re going swimming or sitting in direct sunlight, re-apply the sunblock often, but even if you’re not participating in these activities, you still need to re-apply every once in a while. Don’t forget the backs of your hands and your chest, where sun spots often turn up.

If you’ve already sustained a few sun spots, there are ways you can reduce their appearance. You can utilize natural anti aging products and exfoliants to slough off dead skin cells, which reveals fresher skin underneath, and apply a healthy skin anti wrinkle cream afterward. This process will take time, though. If you want the splotches to go away immediately, you can have your dermatologist laser them off.

Remember, prevention is the best policy when it comes to sun damage. While you can eliminate wrinkles and use natural anti aging products to make your complexion look healthy, you can’t undo the internal damage the sun causes.