We all try our best to age gracefully, by first not looking older than we really are. In this day and age where faces (and necks) look younger and younger with innovative anti-aging skin tightening and brightening treatments, it does get a little more difficult guessing a person’s age. But here comes the challenge – ensuring that other body parts do not betray our age and give the game away.
Experts say that our hands age faster than the face and neck and give away our age more quickly than any other body part. Constantly exposed to harsh elements – cold, heat, pollution, chemicals in harsh soaps and the sun, they start to age as early as the 20s, like the face, but most people don’t recognize the signs of aging on the hands until their 40s. Even if they do notice aging changes, most people don’t do anything until the signs of aging turn serious.
Here are the best lasers for reversing the tell-tale signs of time on the hands.
1. SUN SPOTS
It is impossible to shield the hands as well as the face on a daily basis. The hands are exposed to the sun almost everyday and are extra susceptible to sun-induced pigmentation. Try a micro-resurfacing laser peel such as the Fraxel thulium laser, which works at a wavelength that goes directly after sun damage. You will have to take extra care in the next 1 or 2 weeks post treatment to protect the healing skin from further sun exposure. Ensure you apply a good sunscreen daily.
2. WRINKLES
Your first line of defence? Sunscreen daily from a young age. Try an over-the-counter mild retinol for the face, such as Age Defy to refine fine lines and texture. For more serious-looking wrinkles, try Fraxel Light, which creates small microscopic laser columns in the skin, inducing a productive healing response and stimulating better quality collagen, creating a skin tightening effect over time.
3. THINNING
Loss of fat occurs as the hand ages, and veins which used to be masked by fat and thicker skin show up more prominently. Unfortunately no amount of moisturizing will plump the hands back to its youthful state, but hand fillers will do the trick. Biocompatible dermal fillers can be injected under the skin of the hands, filling in spaces which used to house more fat, restoring volume and smoothening out lines which are a dead giveaway of one’s vintage.
