Dark Spots on Skin Are Often Caused by Excessive Sun Exposure

The integumentary system of your skin has many complex and dynamic components. This includes the dermal cells, pores, hair follicles, sweat glands, and other special cells like melanocytes.

When you expose your skin to the direct rays of the sun, it can affect these various components of your skin in different ways. A sunburn can vary in severity and could potentially cause significant harm to dermal cells.

At the same time, unprotected sun exposure can cause the melanocytes in your skin to produce the pigment, melanin. This causes you to tan, to varying degrees based on your complexion, the strength of the sun at that time of year, and the total amount of exposure.

As you age, excess melanin in your skin cells can start to saturate the surrounding dermal cells. This can cause dark spots to appear on your hands, face, shoulders, and other exposed parts of the body. Since most of these places are highly visible, the dark spots can have a significant impact on your appearance.

In a situation like this, you should schedule a consultation appointment with our cosmetic surgeon at The Office of Dr. Leon Goldstein. During this appointment Dr. Leon Goldstein can assess the severity of the dark spots and any contributing factors with the health of your skin.

Then he can help you understand your options for remediating the appearance of dark spots on the visible parts of the body. This might include daily use of a cream or administering a microlaser laser resurfacing treatment, which can also help address other skin defects like acne scars.

Call our office today to learn more and to schedule a consultation.