Known as liver spots, freckles or sun spots; coloured patches or spots on the skin may be benign, but are still indicative of skin damage by the sun.
They can appear anywhere on the face or body as a result of overexposure to the sun, and will not fade with time.
Tanned skin is the body’s attempt at protection from sunlight. Certain cells in the epidermis produce a pigment when exposed to sunlight, but too much sun can damage these cells and result in too much pigmentation occurring in an isolated spot.
The only way to prevent further development of such sun spots is to provide protection from the sun: clothing, avoiding direct sunlight, wearing sun block and even fitting UV filters to car windows.
For existing areas of pigmentation, there is pigmentation treatment that can be extremely effective. It involves the application of a filtered light to the affected areas. The light heats up the tissues causing the excess pigmentation to be dispersed and absorbed by the body.
A combination of microdermabrasion, laser therapy and ultrasound can also have good results. It is important, however, to change the way you expose your skin to potential sun damage in order to prevent the need for further treatment in the future.
