The Hands of Time

Beautiful woman hand holding isolated on white backgroundAlthough our faces are the area to which many of us pay the most attention from an aesthetic point of view, the hands are receiving more attention of late when it comes to all of our efforts to look younger and healthier.  Our hands, like our faces, are exposed to the sun and other harsh elements in the environment, while also being subjected to trauma and the drying effects of frequent hand washing every day.

We take our hands for granted, but they are actually quite complex.  One human hand contains 29 separate bones and 34 muscles.  Within the muscles alone, there are multiple tendons, ligaments, arteries, veins and nerves to allow very precise and complicated movements.

While covering these bones and muscles, the skin that covers the hands is actually quite thin and delicate.  In fact, as hard as this is to believe, this layer of skin is really only about as thick as one's eyelids.  When skin is thinner, it ages quicker.

There are two very common complaints people have when it comes to their hands and the apparent aging involved:

  1. The dark spots that develop over time
  2. The crêpiness of the skin that causes the hands to look more bony and with more prominent veins.

Fortunately, for each of these problems of the aging hands, we here at Maine Laser Skin Care have minimally invasive technological solutions and treatments.

If you have darkened spots on your hands, the first step is to have them examined by a medical professional trained in skin care so as to find potential precancerous and/or cancerous lesions.  Assuming that inspection shows only the typical speckling that comes with sun and age over time, laser treatments can target these dark pigment spots in 2-4 sessions with very little downtime.

Helping hands, care for the elderly conceptAfter the laser procedure, the spots treated will darken further and stay darker for 3-4 days.  Then, slowly over the next week or two, the pigmented cells will flake off, removing and lightening the treated spots.

For age-related volume loss in the hands, hyaluronic acid-based fillers, such as the Juvederm family of fillers, can reverse this process by replacing volume.  Juvederm particularly has a solid track record on many of parts of the face, and does an excellent job at hiding newly visible tendons, veins, and bones within the hands.

Generally, one or two filler injections are needed over the top of each hands.  After the injections, the hands are massaged to distribute the filler evenly.

As always, protecting the skin of your hands from the sun is the best long-term preventive strategy.  Sun avoidance is especially important before and after having had laser and filler treatments.

We perform both of these procedures at our Maine Laser Skin Care offices in Augusta and Scarborough.  To schedule your free consultation where we can evaluate your skin pigmentation and determine what treatment, or treatments, are best for your individual needs, call us in Scarborough at (207) 303-0125 or in Augusta at (207) 873-2158.