Aaaaccccckkkk!!
A nurse looked at my hand and said “Oh, hon, that sure is a large age spot!”
I knew that discoloration was there. But I did NOT think age spot. Liver spot. Or, egads…I’M old!! Noooooo! Say it ain’t so.
Please.
So, true to my nature. I google it. I decide if there’s a cure.
Nope.
Seems not. You can get Vanishing cream.
Don’t vanish nothing.
It vanishes its expensive silky self right into my hand. And the bucks from my wallet.
So I plop the old credit card down, any whoo, for the vanishing cream. 1 oz. $49. (Cheap version, yeah I read the label, same as the $118. flavor). 'Cause I’m a dumbass.
It’s a giant misnomer in womens skin care products.
Why am I surprised? 
I had a brown spot appear in the middle of my forehead a few years ago. it was about the size and shape of a thumbprint. It slowly got darker. My doctor was unconcerned about it. Then something weird happened, maybe coincidentally, maybe not. I got my first COVID vaccination and the spot got itchy. It became bumpy and raised up, then it faded away over several weeks. My doctor was rather dubious when I questioned if the immune system being kicked into high gear could erase an age spot.
You can effectively lighten skin with steroid cream, but it also damages your skin so you probably shouldn’t. Retinol can work too, but it made my hair fall out(!) I don’t think that’s a common side effect, however. I got the retinol from The Ordinary, which generally has cheaper products than pharmacies, or at least used to. I think it exists in America too, you can google it.
I have a butt ton of freckles, and I will swear to the day I die that all spots on me are freckles.
Do only women get age spots and need “vanishing” cream? (I really do not know…I thought men get them too.)
I would think some makeup cover-up might work. Probably a lot less expensive. Just don’t shake hands and smear it.
Well,no. But this cream was at the womens make up counter.
Marketed to women.
Didn’t see one man.
He can come there. I don’t care.
It will come in handy if you’re ever chased by a cat.
But seriously, it’s called “vanishing cream” because the lotion itself is absorbed into the skin and “vanishes”, not because it is supposed to make anything on your skin vanish.
According to the Beatles, that means you’re getting better looking. Particularly if you also groove slowly.
A quick Google suggested:
- Prescription creams with hydroquinone, retinoids, or corticosteroids
- Over-the-counter products containing ingredients like vitamin C, niacinamide, or alpha hydroxy acids
IANAD and I have NO experience if any of these are at all effective or have side effects or drug interactions. Maybe something to ask your doctor or pharmacist. There might be some medical procedures that help but that is definitely a discussion to have with your doctor.
No idea if any of it is worthwhile. Really best to discuss with a doctor.
I think from what I read, they are mostly harmless.
The Lil’wrekker suggested self tanner and careful application.
Ummm…probably not.
I have about 30 on my abdomen.
Well, that beats MY suggestion: dying the rest of you liver spot brown.
Both “liver spots” and “age spots” are horrible terms. What we need is a euphemism. Wisdom marks? Survivor spots? Beauty dots?
And let’s reframe the whole thing. “The only good thing about getting older is finally developing beauty dots!” Or maybe, “I read somewhere that sexy spots mean you’re good in bed.”
I find that I’m not getting any more blemishes, but the normal everyday skin damage I get never seems to quite repair itself right. Like, I’ve got a spot near my right elbow, that I think started as a mosquito bite, a year and a half ago. It’s still a little scar there, that keeps growing out from the skin. Every so often I trim it down.
There’s the joke about two nightclubs for senior citizens: “The Liver Spot” and the “Hip Joint”.
So I’m not the only one who immediately thought of that.
If I had hair “down to my knee” I’d have another beauty question.
I saw the title, and thought of a book I had as a child: The Shrinking of Treehorn.
That’s all I got.