Sunspots
Age spots, brown spots, freckles and liver spots are benign, flat lesions in sun exposed areas of the skin like the face or hands. While most physicians consider these lesions harmless, there is literature suggesting that ingestion of polyunsaturated oils leads to free radical damage manifesting as age spots. Such lesions are not cancerous, nor do they lead to skin cancer, but age spots may be accompanied by actinic keratosis and skin cancers since both are produced by premature aging and sun exposure. Cosmetic treatment of age spots with liquid nitrogen or Active FX fractional laser is very effective.
Flat purple spots on sun damaged skin are due to capillary fragility, broken capillaries that bleed into the skin. This occurs in thin skin of elderly people or those taking large doses of aspirin or cortisone. High doses of oral Vitamin C can improve the strength of the capillary walls and lower the incidence of this problem.
