Remedies for Brown Spots

Brown spots are also known as age spots, sun spots or liver spots. Perhaps the most correct name for them is sun spots as they are caused by hyperpigmentation caused by overexposure to the sun. Usually they are brown spots but they can also be beige or caramel colored like freckles. It is also true that they are more common in people as they get older. The spots were originally thought to be toxins from an old liver that could not process them which is how they got to be called liver spots.

Brown spots are simply known as hyperpigmentation.  Blotchy brown spots are known as melasma or choasma and appear on the forehead, cheeks or temples. This type of brown spot can be hereditary or triggered by menopause, pregnancy or birth control pills. Liver spots are smaller than choasma or melasma and appear on older people who have been exposing their skin to the sun without any kind of sunscreen or clothing protection for years and years.

There are quite a few natural remedies on the market that can be used to fade age spots. These ingredients in these herbal gels or creams are usually vitamin E (for healing), aloe vera gel (for skin repair) and natural fruit acids (such as lemon juice) to help bleach out the spots so that they blend in more naturally with your skin tone. Some of these natural remedies also contain milk as the lactic acid in milk can help bleach out brown spots as well.

There are also ingredients that you have in your kitchen cupboard or refrigerator that might help bleach out age spots. These include lemon juice, organic cider vinegar, papaya slices or juice and pineapple slices or juice.  All of these ordinary foods and condiments contain enzymes that might help get rid of them.

There are also a couple of popular home remedies for brown spots that you can mix up yourself. One is witch hazel mixed with horseradish and applied to the area. Yet another is a mixture of three quarters part aloe vera gel to one-quarter part lemon juice.

Perhaps the best way to avoid brown spots is to stay out of the sun in the first place. The hottest time of the day when the ultraviolet rays of the sun tend to be the most damaging to the skin is from noon until two o clock in the afternoon. If you have older skin you can save it from brown spots by avoiding doing errands at those peak UV emission times. You can also protect your skin by wearing long sleeved clothing and also by wearing sunscreen. Given today’s disappearing ozone layer and magnification of UV rays thanks to chemical smog it might be a good idea to carry a parasol if you really want to avoid getting brown spots. Otherwise brown spots and their cute cousins, the freckles, may be unavoidable.

There are several types of plastic surgery treatments that can be used to treat these brown spots including chemical peels, microdermabrasion, Cosmelan De-Pigmentation Treatment, Obaji Skin Lightening Treatment and laser light phototherapy.