Question + Answer: Best Treatment For Sunspots

What is the best treatment for sunspots?

Depending on a client’s specific needs, there are two different treatments for this problem.

Fraxel Re:fine
The first is fractional resurfacing using Fraxel Re:fine. This is a laser that can give your skin a smoother, more even looking appearance with minimal down time. The laser creates thousands of tiny “wounds” in the epidermal and dermal layers of the skin. As your body heals, those wounds are replaced with healthy, normal colored skin and collagen production is increased. Typically, 3-5 treatments are needed and I usually recommend spacing the treatments 3 weeks apart.

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) Photofacial
The second treatment option is Intense Pulsed LIght (IPL). This technology uses a pigment specific light that is absorbed by areas of high concentration of pigment. It can work on brown pigment (melanin) or red pigment (blood vessels). Again, multiple treatments are needed although clients generally notice marked improvement from one treatment. For very deep pigment, I would suggest combining this procedure with a series of medical peels. The exfoliation of a peel will enable the light to penetrate more deeply into the layers of the skin.

Protect Your Investment
Finally, protect your investment! I would encourage all patients to use a topical antioxidant serum and a quality sunscreen. We carry Skinceuticals CE ferrulic and CF floretin. Both of these products contain potent antioxidants and peptides which affect the skin’s cell activity by strengthening the extracellualr matrix and fighting free-radical damage. Skinceuticals also has a fantastic line of sunscreens which contain high levels of zinc oxide, a mineral that provides a physical block against UVA and UVB rays. We carry most of the line with SPF ranging from 20-50.

Author
Elan Bagwill is an RN and performs many of the advanced services at Urban Medspa.

Recommendations
Fraxel Re:fine
Intense Pulsed Light (IPL)
Quality Sunscreen