Do Your Hands Show Your Age

There is an old saying that no matter how young your face looks, your hands will always give your age away. The desire for youthful appearance and the goal of looking our best every day should never end in our face and are clothes, but should extend to the hand we extend to our friends when we meet them.

There are specific tactics and strategies we can do to help decrease the aging process in the skin of our hands as well as to reverse some of them. However, since prevention is worth a pound of cure, and definitely much easier than rejuvenation, it is best to work on prevention even when you believe it is too late.

Some women will spend a small fortune on fabulous skincare, anti-aging makeup, a youthful new hair cut and great new clothes. However, one glance at her hands and you know instantly how old she really. The hands are one of the first places that we see signs of aging, unfortunately, one of the biggest areas people neglect when it comes to skincare.

One reason that our hands show our age much sooner than anyplace else is that they are frequently exposed to ultraviolet light without protection. If you think about it, our hands should have sunscreen applied throughout the summer and winter months. We continue to drive and our hands are exposed to the sun through the windshield. We continue to go to work and our hands are exposed to UV light through the windows and fluorescent lighting in the office. And in the winter months those hands are also exposed to cold weather and dry heat.

Most of us would never consider exposing our face to the sun without sun block, but never remember to put it on our hands prior to going outside. The simple act of moisturizing our hands after being exposed to the winter cold and indoor heat as well as washing dishes, taking baths and bathing little ones can also help to improve the moisture necessary in the skin cells to maintain a youthful appearance.

That small act of forgetting sunscreen can leave them looking even older as the ultraviolet light leaves brown spots and age spots. In fact, experts believe that because the skin on the back of the hands is so much thinner than the rest of the body, they show aging much more quickly. Any loss of fat underneath the back of the hands is quickly noticed and results in loose skin.

Maintaining and reversing the signs of aging in your hands begins with using sun block of SPF 15 or higher every single day. Keep it in your top drawer in the bathroom and in the kitchen. Apply it every morning after you have finished your morning application of moisturizer and makeup. Apply it in the kitchen when you are leaving the house for the day or even just playing outside with the kids. Make a commitment to use it every single time you go outside, summer, winter and all the time. This will help to stop some of the damage that comes from ultraviolet rays.

Your next trick will be to save a little bit of what you are using on your face in order to stop the aging process and use it on the backs of your hands. Anti-aging serums that work well on your face will also work on the back of your hands. Don\’t forget moisturizers, night creams and day creams with sun block protection.

Other options are the use of powerful antioxidants therapies that are applied locally in order to help this cellular system regenerate and repair. One of these antioxidants is pycnogenal which is a pine bark extract that can be 50 times more powerful than vitamin E. This ingredient is usually found in more expensive brands of hand care lotions.

And while shopping for any brands of moisturizer be sure to buy one that does more than simply moisturize hands. Look for a cream that gives your skin the anti-oxidants it requires in order to fight free radicals damage.

If you have brown spots and aging spots already looks to the experts in order to get rid of them. Most of the time you need professional treatments and cannot get rid of them with over-the-counter products. However, you lose nothing by trying and if there is a product which has been successful for your friends or relatives it is well worth the trial.

The skin on the back of your hands is much more delicate than the skin on your face. It heals more slowly and this skin is thinner. Stay away from any product that does any damage or is irritating to the skin. While you may use exfoliating products that you use on your face on the back of your hands you don\’t want to try a micro-dermabrasion or any other treatment that causes irritation.

Unfortunately, for some people, by the time they recognize how much damage is done to the backs of their hands it is too late to do anything at home. Experts believe there are a number of professional treatments that can help hands, while the results are excellent, as they can be a bit pricey.

One such treatment replaces lost fat under the top layer of the skin with a filler. This works to plump for skin and takes away a bony look that fills out the wrinkles. Another treatment is a laser treatment used for brown spots and highly pigmented areas. Some women choose chemical peel\’s used for brown spots and age pigment. Some doctors believe that it is safe for age spots on the back of the hands while others believe it is too harsh.

It is important to begin with prevention in the treatment of anti-aging. Whether a person is looking at preventing early aging signs on the face, the hands or the hair it is the best to apply techniques before any signs have appeared rather than trying to rejuvenate the hands once years of ultraviolet ray damage has been done.