As we age, our skin begins to change and weather. For women over 30 – and some men as well – this aging process reveals itself as dark spots, or irregular pigmentation, on the face, neck, and shoulders.
Here’s what these spots could be telling you about your body.
You’re exposing yourself to too much sunlight.
Developing dark spots due to excessive sun exposure – and natural age – is called lentigo. Your skin is pigmented by the melanin it contains. This melanin is produced by cells called melanocytes, that are triggered by an enzyme in our bodies. Over time, constant and excessive sun exposure can overstimulate the melanocytes, causing the pigmentation of your skin to become darker in particular patches.
If you’ve been seeing these spots on your skin, and you aren’t using any sunscreen, it’s time that you bought an AAD-approved sunscreen to protect your skin before your condition gets worse. You should be using sunscreen every day, regardless of the weather.
Your hormones could be imbalanced.
If you develop these dark spots while you’re on birth control pills or another form of hormone control, or when you’re pregnant, these dark spots are a symptom of hormone imbalances in your body. Thankfully, that “pregnancy mask” – the dark spots that crop up during pregnancy – generally disappears a few months after you give birth.
Unfortunately, there aren’t many other ways of treating these spots aside from applying sunscreen regularly and diligently, and consulting your doctor for appropriate treatment methods.
You could be suffering from particularly bad acne.
After particularly bad bouts of acne, your skin may develop post-inflammatory pigmentation. Even after your acne disappears, your skin will already have produced more melanin than usual because of the formerly present inflammation.
Although sunscreen won’t help get rid of these spots, they will keep other spots from developing and aid in the disappearance of your current pigmentation concerns. Your doctor might be able to help alleviate the problem by prescribing topical treatments, or advising you to purchase particular skin products to help fade these spots over time.
Pigmentation and age spots aren’t easy to vanish because it fights the natural aiding process. There are potential treatment methods to these otherwise benign symptoms, but your best bet is to just use proper sunscreen every time you leave the house.
