What are senile lentigo?
Senile lentigo are skin blemishes due to the inhomogeneous production of melanin, the brown pigment that gives color to the skin.
Causes
The stratum corneum of the epidermis, the most superficial, is continuously subjected to ultraviolet radiation, which in the long run favor skin thickening, skin aging and hyperpigmentation of the superficial skin layers, due to excess production and melanic pigment deposition. The synergy of these factors facilitates the formation of senile lentigo.
Features
The areas affected by senile lentigo, in general, have an increased density of cells involved in the production of melanin (melanocytes), with abnormal local accumulation of the pigment, made even more evident by the transparency of the skin, which is increasingly fragile over the years. Paradoxically, if the skin of the elderly tends to become thicker, the areas affected by senile lentigo tend to shrink.
Senile lentigo is an effect of photoaging: not surprisingly, the appearance of the spots almost always coincides with the menopause, a moment that is already problematic for women. The lentigo senili, however, also affect men in old age; what changes, between the two sexes, is the personal relationship with the skin defect: for women it often represents a real disorder, which could also lead to psychological disorders, while in men the lentigo senili seem to be better accepted and tolerated.
The senile lentigo are often also correlated to acute and chronic exposures photos of the past: in fact, the majority of the subjects affections from senile lentigo, declares to be sensitive to luminous radiations, and to have manifested in the past cutaneous troubles tied to prolonged exposures to the rays Of sun.
Incidence
Furthermore, lentigo senili represent a condition that preferentially affects subjects with fair skin (phototypes I and II); however, this does not mean that age spots can also occur in subjects with a darker complexion - which potentially better resists the action of ultraviolet rays.
Diagnosis
Although it is not a disorder capable of causing serious consequences, the diagnosis of senile lentigo is very important, both to identify what treatment is necessary to tackle the disorder, and to exclude the presence of other diseases or even serious diseases, such as skin tumors or other pigmentation disorders.
Treatment
Age spots represent a physiologically irreversible phenomenon, since they are a condition linked to age; in spite of this, some treatments can be used to lighten the stains, following the instructions of the doctor or specialist.
In fact, before undergoing any therapy to combat senile lentigo, it is necessary and absolutely essential to undergo a specialist check, to exclude that lentigo develop into pathological forms or are spies of malignant tumors: in this case, removal surgical and / or chemotherapy treatments represent two possible therapeutic approaches.
Cosmetic treatment
The use of covering cosmetics is a solution, albeit temporary, which attenuates solar lentigo.
In association with cosmetics with a covering action, the anti-age cosmetics market offers a wide variety of products (creams, serums, masks, etc.) which - in addition to exerting an anti-wrinkle action - are enriched with functional ingredients with lightening properties, the whose purpose is precisely to attenuate senile lentigo.
These ingredients exert their action by directly interfering with the synthesis of melanin, or by interfering with its transport from melanocytes to superficial skin cells.
Among the main lightening agents used in the anti-age products also indicated to counteract the lentigo senili, we mention kojic acid, azelaic acid, glycyrrhizin and arbutin.
However, it is important to remember that this type of cosmetic treatment is not decisive, since it does not eliminate the lentigo senili, but - if carried out with regularity and constancy - it can definitely attenuate them.
Dermo-aesthetic treatment
If the cosmetic treatment is not sufficient to attenuate the lentigo senili and / or if the imperfection creates a consistent misunderstanding to the affected subject, the dermatologist can recommend some pseudo-invasive dermo-aesthetic treatments, such as laser therapy, cryotherapy, dermabrasion, diathermocoagulation or chemical peels. However, in general, the resolving techniques for the treatment of senile lentigo are the same as those we have analyzed for solar lentigo.
Prevention
To avoid the use of dermo-aesthetic treatments, even very expensive ones, it is sufficient to adopt certain behaviors to prevent the appearance of the disorder.
The prevention of senile lentigo must start already at a young age. In fact, since young people it is a good rule to always apply protective creams with sun filters on the skin, not only before prolonged exposure to the sun (given that UV rays are always present, even during the cold months). In fact, without adequate skin protection during sun exposure, the appearance of skin dyschromias is favored both in the short term (solar lentigo or efelidi) and long term (lentigo senili). On the other hand, by regularly applying a protective cream on the skin, the risk of suffering premature skin aging is reduced; consequently, the appearance of senile lentigo in adulthood will be less likely.