Hand Rejuvenation San Francisco | Aging Hands Bay Area

There’s an old saying, “If you want to know the age of a woman, look at her hands.” That statement is valid, and it doesn’t just apply to women. Men also notice changes to the hands over time that can make them look older than their years. The backs of the hands are exposed to UV rays, environmental pollution and other factors that can strip them of their youthful suppleness and cause you to run for the gloves. Dr. Maas offers a variety of good options to improve the signs of aging that occur to the hands so that you can match the youthful vitality of other areas of your skin.

The Aging Hands

The good news is all these concerns can be effectively treated through a variety of procedures. In some cases, you can address multiple aging symptoms in a single appointment in our office. Dr. Maas will carefully assess each of your issues to determine the best treatment plan for you.

There are a variety of changes that can occur to the hands over time:

Loss of soft tissue between the tendons creates prominent veins that appear to stick out from the surface of the hand
Brown spots appear, also known as age or liver spots, which are a byproduct of constant UV exposure to the skin in that area
Dilated blood vessels and visible red and blue veins, capillaries and telangiectasia (spider veins)
Fine lines and wrinkles on the backs of the hands

Hide Prominent Veins

Dr. Maas frequently uses injectable fillers to disguise the loss of volume that creates the prominent tendons as well as the depletion of normal youthful fullness. By using hyaluronic acid fillers like Juvederm, Restylane or Belotero to fill in the areas between the tendons, he can make them nearly disappear. The treatment is performed right in his office, and with local anesthesia, you will find the procedure to be comfortable. You may experience some minimal swelling after the injections, but it should not be overly uncomfortable and will subside within a few days. You should enjoy your enhancements for many months before a touch-up treatment is required to maintain them.

Say Goodbye to Brown Spots

Since the hands are almost always exposed to the sun, nearly everyone develops at least a few pigment changes over time. Also known as solar lentigines, the spots can become confluent or merge into large, prominent masses. Dr. Maas encourages patients to wear sunscreen on the backs of their hands for just this reason. However, once those spots start to appear, you will need professional treatment to remove them. Fortunately, some options can make these markings almost invisible. Intense pulsed light therapy or IPL is an excellent option for brown spots. This broadband light is different from a laser or the light in a room – it is very intense, and when applied to the skin’s surface, the flashes of light absorb the brown pigment. The pigment will work its way to the skin’s surface within a couple of weeks, where it will flake away entirely. IPL can also work on visible veins, as the light can target the blood in the vessel, so it collapses and is reabsorbed by the body over time. IPL is not a painful procedure and results will become apparent within a few weeks after the treatment. The improvement is long-lasting, although new brown spots can form over time if you do not use proper sun protection in this area.

Skin resurfacing is another option for brown spots, which is typically performed using a laser or chemical peel. Dr. Maas recommends fractional laser treatments for the backs of the hands, due to the delicate skin in this area. Fractional laser improves both the color and surface texture of the hands, reducing wrinkles and brown spots at the same time.

Chemical peels come in a variety of depths, allowing Dr. Maas to customize your treatment to produce an optimal outcome. These treatments involve the application of a chemical solution that removes the outermost layer of the dermis, leaving softer, smoother and brighter skin in its wake.

Smooth Away Wrinkles

If wrinkles are a primary concern for you, the skin resurfacing treatments listed above can be beneficial for this aging symptom as well. Fractional laser treatments are particularly helpful since they can stimulate collagen production that supports the underlying dermal structure. Additional collagen produces a smoother look to the skin’s surface with a noticeable improvement in fine lines and wrinkles. The treatments are accompanied by minimal discomfort and little downtime so that you can achieve your aesthetic goals without significant disruption in your daily life.

Don’t let your hands give away your age. With a variety of treatment options, you can refresh and rejuvenate this area as effectively as you can your face. Dr. Maas will take the time to assess your needs, so he can recommend the best treatment plan for you. In some cases, a single procedure may do the trick, while other patients may require multiple therapies, performed simultaneously or at different appointments, to produce the full outcome they want. To learn more about your choices in hand rejuvenation, contact The Maas Clinic^TM today at (415) 567-7000 or contact us by email.

The information about hands was reviewed by Corey S. Maas MD^TM. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us using our contact form on the sidebar.