IPL for brown spots: Protect your investment

Numerous patients seek treatment to get rid of brown spots on the back of the hands and most dermatology offices and medical spas have the answer: Intense Pulse Light treatments.  This is not a laser but an burst of intense light that is absorbed by brown spots on the skin and converted into energy. This energy damages the brown spots (basically, the light energy burns them) in a targeted fashion, they turn in to cayenne pepper-like scabs and fall off in about a week’s time.

Great, your brown spots are now gone, how do you keep them from coming back?  Wear lots of thick sunscreens on the back of the hands or keep your hands covered. That means, covered when driving, running, walking the dog, running errands, hiking or participating in any outdoor activity in which you will get your hands exposed to the sun. The brown spots, called lentigenes (pl) or lentigo (sgl) slowly come back with each exposure.

My latest customer contacted me saying, “I have had laser treatments on the back of my hands to remove sun damage and want to keep it up.”  More than likely it was IPL, which is often confused with ‘laser’, and the cost can be moderate to expensive, depending on the number of treatments necessary. The cost is around $100 – 300 per treatment.

Kim Ann’s Beauty Black Book describes the IPL process with fantastic photos.

PalmFree™SunGloves and HalfSleeves are an excellent and easy way to help prevent those brown spots from returning. They are easy to slip on and off, they are comfortable, light weight and compact.  Most importantly 90% of the palmar side of your hands are uncovered allowing you to maintain your tactility, dexterity and sensitivity and your hands naturally stay cool.

As a dermatology clinician, I too protect the back of my hands when driving to work, playing tennis or out for a morning run.