Video Interview With Dr. Killion: Tips to Rejuvenate Your Hands

Did you know your hands are one of the first spots to reveal your age? As much as we pamper our face and neck, our hands deserve some love, too! By recognizing how sun exposure plays a role in skin damage is the first step to keeping your hands looking young. If your skin is showing signs of aging caused by sun exposure, we provide plenty of treatment options to restore youthful skin. According to Dr. Elizabeth Killion, a Monarch plastic surgeon, “They used to say that you can tell a person’s true age by looking at their hands, and fortunately that’s just not true anymore.” Watch as she notes the signs of aging in your skin as well as how to manage it with some simple hand rejuvenation treatments.

Signs your hands are aging 

There are two key signs that your hands are aging: dark spots and loss of volume. Darks spots are also known as liver spots or solar lentigines, which are caused by sun exposure. They vary in size and usually appear on the back of hands as well as the face, arms and shoulders. Dark spots can affect people of all ages and skin types, however, they are most common in people over 50 and those who have lighter skin.

Loss of volume in the hands causes the veins to be more apparent on the back of the hand. When we get older, the skin goes through morphological changes and becomes thinner. These changes may appear earlier and more pronounced when exposed to sunlight and UV rays. However, there are ways to treat this.

Treatment options

The first method to treat dark spots would be to try and prevent it initially. Sunscreen is the best method to protect your skin from sun exposure. As Dr. Killion mentions, try keeping sunscreen in your car, and apply it to your hands while you’re waiting at a red light. Another way to treat dark spots is the BroadBand Light (BBL). This treatment only takes around five minutes and works wonderfully at getting rid of those dark spots.

There are two different options when it comes to treating the loss of volume in the hands. For those who are interested, but aren’t sure what to expect, a filler would be a great option. Fillers last 12 to 18 months, giving you a temporary option. This plumps up the volume in the hands and decreases visible veins. A more permanent option would be fat grafting. Fat grafting is when fat from either the abdomen or thighs is harvested and injected through small incisions into your hands. Since it’s your own tissue, this would be a permanent result.

Have questions for our surgeons? Schedule a consultation with us today by calling 913-663-3838 (Leawood) or 816-436-3262 (North KC) or request a consultation online.