3 On Your Side: Age Spot Products - Sun Spot Removal and Keritinosis Treatment

3 On Your Side: Age Spot Products
Oct 10, 2007
cbs3.com

PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ― While you were sunning at the beach years ago, age spots may have been forming. But now some products promise to reduce or remove them. 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan tells you about some that hit the spot.

When it comes to your skin, the sun can be your worst enemy.

"Believe it or not, age spots, those yucky, brown spots that show up on our face, are not caused by age, they're actually caused by the sun," said Alyssa Hertzig with the Good Housekeeping Research Institute.

To analyze pigmentation, the Institute used a machine called the Visia. Murad Age Spot & Pigment Lightening Gel did a great job. It retails for $58.

"The reason the Murad product performed well is because it actually contains some products that are often used in dermatologists' offices," said Dr. David Goldberg, a New York dermatologist. "It contained a hydroquinone, a bleaching agent and also glycolic acid which works well on the skin."

"It wasn't greasy, it didn't smell of anything and I saw results very quickly, within six days," said tester Laura Anson.

And Good Skin All Bright Spot Treatment also did well. It retails for $15.

"The Good Skin Treatment is a mix of glucosamine, mulberry root and yeast extract, and although it didn't lighten as dramatically as the Murad product did, testers definitely saw results," Hertzig said.

You can also try a laser treatment to zap spots since lasers allow for very selective treatment. "You shine a beam on the skin, it is absorbed by the brown spots, and we remove the brown spots, sometimes totally in one session," said Goldberg.

The cost of a laser treatment is about $500 per session for lasers on specific spots and $1000 per session for a laser called a fraxel. The fraxel is used for all-over improvement of substantial pigmentation. Many laser treatments for age spots will also help with wrinkles.

Good Housekeeping says even if you use a product for age spots, it's important to wear sunscreen. Sun exposure can trigger production of the pigment that someone with age spots is trying to eliminate.

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