What Are Age Spots? Separating Fact from Fiction
What are age spots? Are they really a sign of getting older or is there a medical reason for them appearing? We need to start separating fact from fiction in order to discover the truth about what causes them and keeps them forming.
There is a lot of information out there about age spots, and while much of this information may be factual there is also a lot of information that is false or misleading.
When you are suffering from the appearance of age spots on your skin, finding the truth about the causes of age spots is essential.
Let’s separate the fact from the fiction when it comes to this common skin condition by exposing some of the most common misconceptions about brown spots.
What Are Age Spots? They Are Related to Skin Cancer
Myth: Many people are under the belief that age spots and skin cancers are the same thing.
Fact: While age spots and skin cancer do resemble each other in appearance, the fact is that age spots are not a sign of skin cancer in the majority of cases. However, because these two things do look very much alike, it is always advisable to get any spot checked out to make sure it is benign, especially if the spot is itchy, growing, or changing color.
What Are Age Spots? They Are a Sign of Aging
Myth: Age spots are a symptom of aging skin.
Fact: It is true that age spots are more common in people over the age of 40, but it is certainly not unheard of for people to develop get more brown spots in their late 20’s and early 30’s.
This is because age spots are not, in fact, attributed to aging skin. These spots are caused by the skins exposure to the sun and therefore, when they appear is largely determined by how much sun your skin has been exposed to over the years.
Obviously, the older you are the more exposure to the sun your skin has had and this is why they often appear later in life. Getting a moderate amount of sun is healthy, but too much is bad.
What Are Age Spots? They Are a Sign That the Body is Not Able to Metabolize Fat
Myth: As we age, our bodies are no longer able to metabolize fat effectively and, as a result, we have a build up of toxins. These toxins are what cause age spots to form.
Fact: It has been scientifically proven that age spots do not form as a result of toxins that build up because of an inability to metabolize fat. The liver is responsible for metabolizing fat in the body and because of this misconception about how these spots develop, they are often wrongly referred to as liver spots. The formation of age spots is purely caused by the ultraviolet rays from the sun.
The Technical Side of How Age Spots Form
As mentioned earlier, age spots are caused by continuous exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. In order to protect us from the sun, our bodies produce melanin in the upper layer of the skin.
This melanin is what gives our skin a darker color after we have been out in the sun. Over time, however, the skin’s natural ability to protect itself from damaging ultraviolet rays deteriorates and the melanin begins to clump together. It is this clumping of melanin that ultimately causes age spots to develop.
When looking at what age spots are, we need to keep in mind that these spots really have little to do with how old you are. When, or if they appear on your skin, is determined only by how much your skin has been exposed to the sun without adequate sun protection.
The damage that the sun does to our skin often takes years to show up and thus the term ‘age spot’ is used for this condition because they do tend to form later in life.
If you’re interested in learning how to fade your spots, I recommend you read my article on how to get rid of age spots.
