Beauty & Health

How To Diagnose And Treat Brown Spots?

Gone are those days when you have to live with signs of aging. But you no longer have to live with those wrinkles, fine lines and age or brown spot, thanks to technology and medical science.

Today, people are becoming more self-aware of their appearance. This means cosmetic treatments are not just limited to celebrities. Today, anyone can get access to these beauty enhancement procedures. Of course, as long as they can afford it.

Before getting involved in brown spots removal, you need to know what actually brown spot is.

Here’s what you need to know about brown spot.

Brown spots, also called age spots, sun spots, liver spots, or solar lentigines, are usually flat, oval areas showing pigmentation with varying sizes. These spots can appear on the back of your hands, face, top of feet, shoulder, forearms and upper back and may look like anything from gray to tan, black or brown.

What causes age or brown spots?

Well, one of the most common causes of brown spots is an overproduction of melanin. Apart from this, other common causes of brown spots include:

  • Sun damage
  • Skin conditions like linea nigra, melasma, and chloasma
  • Certain medications can also lead to the formation of age spots

Diagnosis of brown spots

  • First, your doctor will conduct a visual inspection by just looking at your skin.
  • Then, your doctor may do some tests, including a skin biopsy, to find out age spots, such as lentigo maligna. To perform this test, your doctor will take your skin sample for microscopic analysis.

Treatment options for age spots

  • Medications – Your doctor may prescribe you certain medications to treat brown spots, such as hydroquinone – bleaching creams, tretinoin – retinoids, and a mild steroid. Don’t forget to use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 30 and more while taking medications. When you use these medications, you may expect temporary redness, itching, dryness or burning sensation.
  • Laser therapy – In laser treatment, your doctor uses intense pulsed light to destroy melanocytes, melanin-producing cells. This treatment targets only dark spots and doesn’t damage the surrounding cells. To see the desired results, you may require 1-6 sessions. However, the number of sessions usually depends on how severe are your brown spots. Once the treatment is done, make sure to protect your skin from sunlight. This is because exposure to the sun may result in recurrence of brown spots.

Takeaway

Apart from this, there are various treatment options available for brown spots removal. When you search for a dermatologist for brown spot removal, always choose an experienced and specially trained dermatologist in your area. Also, make sure they have all the required equipment and tools to carry out these beauty enhancement procedures.

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