Age Spot 101

As we grow older, our skin tends to show it; unfortunately, it does not look the same at 75 as it did when we were 25, I know, that'd be great if it did. We tend to think that wrinkles are the most common form of aging but the reality is that age spots are actually more of a tell tale sign of getting older. See, wrinkles start to happen in your 50s and 60s, on average, but age spots can appear as early as your 40s. Of course, age spots can appear even before your 40s if you spend a considerable amount of time in the sun.

Age spots are called a few names, you may have heard them called sun spots or liver spots, perhaps even lentigines or solar lentigos. However, to have a term that covered all the terms, many skin care companies have gone to calling any dark spots on your skin, "dark spots". No matter what you call them, the cause and treatments are the same.

So what do these little guys look like? Usually, age spots are brown in color and they live on your epidermis layer of skin, this is the top layer. Sometimes your age spots can appear black as well; regardless of the color they appear, make sure they are not moles, if you're unsure, you can check with a dermatologist. One little check you can do yourself is to see if the spots are raised or not; moles are raised and sun spots are flat and feel the same as the rest of your skin. Simply, sun spots look sort of like larger freckles and they can be clustered in one area due to sun exposure to that part of the skin.

Sun spots can appear anywhere on your body that is exposed to the sun when you go outside; they can appear on your arms, legs, face, shoulders, neck, hands, etc. Like we mentioned, they are caused (mostly) by exposure to the sun so they form where sun exposure happens and can be clustered. Now, we said they're mostly caused by sun exposure but they can also just come around due to the aging process.

If you want to have any sun spots removed, then contact Erase Tattoo Removal - a Chicago tattoo removal studio that also specializes in removal of age spots. We use top notch equipment like the Asclepion TattooStar Effect Laser and have a doctor on staff, Dr. Justin Macariola, who handles all the removals. You can schedule a free consultation.