What Causes Age Spots aka Liver Spots

Brown age spots can appear on both men and women.  They can make their debut at any time, usually later in life.  Brown skin spots are erroneously referred to as liver spots.  The liver has nothing to do with the cause of age spots.  But here is what does.  

·         Liver Spots 

The cause of liver spots has nothing to do with the function or health of your liver.  Liver damage will cause a jaundiced or yellowish appearance.  The yellowing usually shows up first in the whites of the eyes. 

The underlying cause of liver spots is probably free radical damage.  Although it has yet to be proven, it is believed that free radicals damage the melanin-producing cells deep within the skin. 

·         What Is Melanin? 

Melanin is the pigment responsible for the color of your hair, eyes and skin.  A fair-skinned person has the same number of melanin-producing cells as a dark-skinned person.  The cells are simply less productive. 

There are many things that trigger melanin production, including hormones and environmental toxins.  But, the main trigger of melanin production is sun exposure. 

·         Over Exposure to the Sun 

Most people say that overexposure to the sun is the cause of brown age spots on hands in men and women.  However, sun exposure can cause an even tan, rather than a clump of melanin. 

The hands are more commonly exposed to sun than other body parts.  So, it makes sense that the spotting would affect that body part most often.   

The spotting is sometimes seen on the face and arms.  Bald men frequently have them on their heads. 

They are not likely to appear on sun-protected areas, which is why they have long been attributed to sun damage.  Long before anyone understood the activity of free radicals, they understood that sun exposure played a role in skin aging. 

·         What Are Free Radicals? 

We say that free radicals are probably the underlying cause of brown age spots on hands in men and women, because the sun causes free radical molecules to behave differently.  The normally benign molecules become excited and over-active when exposed to UV rays from the sun or any other source. 

When the molecules become excited, they damage the membranes surrounding the skin’s cells.  Damage done to the outer cells is of little consequence, because those cells are frequently replaced. 

Damage done to the inner cells is a bigger problem.  The cells responsible for replacing dead and damaged cells are located in the deeper skin layers.  Near those cells are the melanin-producing cells.  When stimulated, they inject melanin into the new cells.  The process could be less than perfect if the controlling DNA of the cells is damaged by free radicals.  Free radicals are known to damage cellular DNA. 

That should explain why we believe the underlying cause of liver spots is free radical damage.  It’s just easier to say that brown age spots on hands in men and women are caused by over-exposure to the sun. 

·         How to Get Rid of Brown Age Spots (Liver Spots) 

Now that you understand more about the causes, it should be easier for you to understand how to remove brown age spots on hands in men and women without visiting a dermatologist or a cosmetic surgeon.  That is the subject of my next article: How to Get Rid of Brown Age Spots on Hands in Men and 

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