Youthful-looking hands are often an underrated sign of beauty and something younger people don’t often worry about or see sun spots on skin. However, besides our face, they’re one of the few parts of our skin that are always on display and that will continue to change as we age.
However, age can be particularly unkind to our hands after years of fun in the sun or dried skin in the colder months. This comes partially in the form of the skin itself, including issues such as sun spots on skin, wrinkles, and cracks. However, the hands also suffer uniquely from a loss of structure over time. This blog covers the ways that your hands might change as you age – and how you can still achieve youthful-looking hands through skin treatments near you, such as a BBL treatment, also known as broadband light treatment.
Skin Conditions on the Hands
The hands are a uniquely vulnerable part of our body when it comes to the effects of age, for two main reasons. Firstly, just like our face, our hands are the part of our body that are most likely to be exposed to the sunlight during the day. The ultraviolet radiation in sunlight can travel below your skin, damaging the cells below. This damage not only causes discoloration but can negatively affect your production of collagen as well, leading to wrinkles.
Secondly, the skin on the back of your hands tends to be some of the thinnest on your body. This makes it easy for sunlight to penetrate it and do damage. As you get older, aging spots (also known as liver spots or sun spots) will tend to appear across your hands. While not inherently dangerous, they are unsightly.
(Note – if the sun spots on your skin appear dark in colour, or bleed, this could be a sign of a more serious condition and you should contact a medical professional).
While washing your hands regularly is important for your overall health, this can tend to rub away the natural oils that lubricate your skin, leading to hands that feel increasingly dry and cracked as you get older. The thinness of hand skin also means that visible veins are also quite common as you age.
Loss of Volume
It’s not just the skin that changes in your hands as you age. The muscular structure of your hand can be altered over time as well. Generally, we tend to lose our muscle mass as we age. In our hands, this is particularly noticeable, giving them a thin and “bony” appearance as we get older. The wrinkling effect from the loss of collagen production tends to only exacerbate this process.
Why Do Youthful Looking Hands Matter?
Although this is a very subjective statement and aging is bound to happen and is a natural and beautiful part of life, when trying to achieve a more youthful appearance through methods like BBL treatment, people tend to put most of their focus on the face and neck. After all, these are the parts of their body that will receive the most attention during the day throughout your lifetime. This, therefore, is an easy tell and indication of aging or youth.
Our hands get more attention than we realize, however, as we tend to use them for a variety of everyday tasks and actions. From shaking hands to writing something down, we tend to show off our hands more than we realize. The fact that hands are affected by aging faster than the rest of our bodies also can make them stand out. Plus, if you want to show off new jewelry or nail polish on your hand, you don’t want distracting signs of aging as well.
Solutions for Aging Hands
Thankfully, at PSSC, we offer a variety of options for you to choose from when it comes to dealing with the effects of age on hands. One of the most effective treatments for sun spots on the skin and other discolorations that affect the hands are laser treatments, particularly BBL Treatment. Through the use of BBL treatment, the damaged and discolored cells in your skin can be revitalized, and collagen production increased.
However, BBL treatment isn’t the only tool available for creating more youthful-looking hands. Dermal fillers are mostly associated with usage on the face. However, you can actually use dermal fillers on your hands as well, to fill them out and prevent the “bony” appearance.
If you’re interested in BBL treatment for your hands, or any other part of your skin, don’t hesitate to contact us right away. We’re always ready to answer any questions you might have about skin care, and how to give you the most youthful appearance possible.