Skin Pigmentation and Age Spots: Causes and Treatments

Let’s focus on hyperpigmentation. Sometimes called age spots or liver spots, or as the French call it ‘les madallions des cemitiere’ or Cemetery Medals, these dark areas of the skin can make us feel aged and tired-looking. Thankfully, in most cases, you can prevent this pigmentation from occurring. But if it’s too late and you already have hyperpigmentated skin, then we can still help you with our non-surgical treatments. 

If you are 45 years plus and unhappy with your skin quality and condition, it is probably due to damage caused over time by the sun, known as ‘Photo damage’ or ‘Photo ageing’. In this article, we explain how this occurs, and why it results in the majority of skin pigmentation cases. We also explain how to get rid of existing skin pigmentation using a range of clinically proven non-surgical treatments. 

Skin pigmentation is one of the most visible signs of skin ageing. Pigmentation and are all largely attributable to long term sun damage, excessive sunbathing or sunbed use, or even simply just not using a high enough SPF sunscreen daily. All of these actions can have a dramatic effect on the way we age, accelerating old looking skin and negatively impacting our overall skin health.

Photoageing is entirely preventable. As an environmentally induced condition, it compromises the natural structure and function of our skin. However, we are all predestined to the effects of photoageing as we are all exposed to the sun every day. Whether through our office window or driving a car, even on a cloudy day at any time of year, the UVA and UVB rays are constantly penetrating through glass and clouds, subsequently damaging our skin. Consider a timeline continuum; one end of this spectrum line is a tan or worse sunburn! At the other end, skin cancer! However, we can limit this damage and quite subtly or moderately the signs of ageing.

Hyperpigmentation refers to patches of skin that have become darker in colour than normal, healthy skin. Some forms of hyperpigmentation, like freckles, do not present any problematic symptoms. But in some instances, spots or patches of skin can become very dark when compared to the rest of the skin. This unbalanced darkening often occurs because there is an excess of melanin, our skin’s natural sun defence mechanism, which forms deposits in the skin to protect it against the sun’s harmful rays.

However, the sun is not the only cause of hyperpigmentation. If patients have suffered inflammatory skin conditions like spot breakouts or acne, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation can also occur. Hyperpigmentation can also occur during pregnancy when hormonal changes can take their toll on the skin. A condition called melasma is a common during pregnancy. It causes dark, discoloured to appear across the skin, and men can sometimes get it too, although this isn’t common. It isn’t clear what causes this condition, but like stress and increased sun exposure have been identified as potential causes.

Although most of the sun damage to our skin has been done well before we are aware of it, it’s not too late to correct some of this damage and prevent further damage by using standard correct sunblock and sun safety methods.

occurs commonly across the face, as this is the area that is most exposed to the sun. When individuals spend a long time in the sunlight, UV radiation from the sun can cause the skin to defend itself against the radiation by melanin deposits across the face. These can occur as large brown patches of skin, darkened freckles or very dark spots in certain areas of the face. Many patients are most concerned about reducing the appearance of skin pigmentation across the face because it is often the most obvious area, and an area that is most vulnerable to .

A common symptom of hyperpigmented skin is age spots. Also known as liver spots, they happen after increased exposure to UV light. They usually appear as unsightly and ageing brown spots that appear across the face and hands, but they can also show up on the neck, decolletage and arms (the areas that get the most sun exposure). These spots can look like anything from light brown freckles to large varying degrees of dark brown splodges. They can appear at any time during adulthood, although they are most common in patients over 50.

With recent in aesthetic medicine, most types of skin pigmentation are treatable. We can do a lot to help visibly improve the signs of ageing to improve the overall texture and quality of the skin. Our leading non-surgical treatments can rapidly improve damage that has already taken place and prevent any further damage from happening:

Moxi Laser is an advanced non-ablative fractionated laser treatment that effectively addresses skin pigmentation issues. By creating micro-coagulation zones within the skin, Moxi stimulates collagen production and promotes skin renewal, resulting in a more even and complexion. This gentle is ideal for targeting sun damage, , and , making it a choice for those looking to rejuvenate their skin with minimal downtime. For optimal results, it is recommended to have 3-4 sessions. Each session typically lasts 8-10 minutes, and patients can expect smoother, clearer skin with a glow.