Brown spots are basically a form of sun damage. Year after year of exposure to UV light causes melanin to cluster near the surface of your skin, resulting in areas of discoloration. Often referred to as age spots or solar lentigines, these lesions commonly develop on the face, shoulders, arms and hands as you get older. Getting rid of these brown spots on dry skin involves the exact same methods as used on normal to oily skin.
Step 1
Apply a commercial fade cream to the brown spots. Commercial fade creams can contain a variety of different active ingredients, including deoxyarbutin, hydroquinone, kojic acid or glycolic acid. Any one of these substances can break up the melanin and cause the spots to fade.
Step 2
Switch to a prescription fade cream. If there's no improvement in your age spots, a prescription fade cream can often do the trick. Prescription fade creams usually contain twice as much hydroquinone as nonprescription creams, notes the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology. However, they may also contain a retinoid and a topical corticosteroid. Your dermatologist can help you determine which product is best suited for your dry skin.
Step 3
Undergo skin rejuvenation for stubborn brown spots. Skin rejuvenation is actually a grouping of procedures that remove the surface layer of your skin. This helps to break down the melanin and cause new skin growth. Both microdermabrasion and chemical peels are rejuvenation procedures that can be of benefit to age spots, even on dry skin.
Step 4
Destroy the melanin in the lentigines with laser therapy. Instead of skin rejuvenation, your dermatologist may recommend fading the age spots with laser therapy. Laser energy administered over affected areas can destroy the melanin responsible for the patches of discoloration and eventually cause the spots to fade.
Step 5
Fade brown spots with cryotherapy. Exposing the skin to extreme drops in temperature can destroy the melanin causing the areas of hyperpigmentation. Due to the potential for scarring, this type of therapy is only used after other methods have failed to improve the appearance of the skin.
Tips and Warnings
- Applying sunscreen before heading outdoors is an important component to fading the brown spots. Sunscreen does nothing to fade hyperpigmentation, but it can keep the spots from darkening. Since you're dealing with dry skin, consider picking up a moisturizer that contains a sun protection factor of at least 30.
Things You'll Need
- Commercial fade cream
- Prescription fade cream
- Sunscreen
- Moisturizer with an SPF of 30
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