When it comes to the business of aging, the effects aren’t limited to your face, breasts and mid-section. In fact, there’s another part of your body that may be exposed to the effects of aging more than any of the others, and that is your hands.
When you think about it, your hands are exposed to the sun, the cold, dryness, moisture, pressure, friction and everything else you encounter in life. Your job, your hobbies, where you live, your genes and time can all accelerate the aging process for your hands and give you some of the telltale signs.
Signs of Hand Aging
Just like with your face, youthful hands are smooth and clear and full-looking. Some of the signs of aging in the hands include:
- Darkened spots or “liver spots.”
- Lines and wrinkling that weren’t there before.
- Loss of fatty tissue resulting in bony-looking hands with the veins looking more prominent.
Just like with other parts of the body, some people get quite upset when their hands start to betray their age. You can become self-conscious about your hands just as easily as your eyes, lips, cheeks, upper thighs or stomach. Those feelings of self-consciousness and the availability of effective treatments are a big part of the reason why more and more people are opting to do something about their aging hands.
Resolve Discolouration with Nonsurgical Treatments with Little to No Downtime
Replace Lost Fat and Plump Up Your Hands
Smooth Away Wrinkles and Creases
Common Hand Treatments
Not every cosmetic hand rejuvenation treatment is right for every person or every issue, and that’s why an initial consultation with the surgeon is so important. It is here that a strategy is outlined and one of the current hand treatments is chosen. Some of the more common are as follows:
Microdermabrasion – just like with the face, this treatment involves “sanding” the first layer of skin of your hands using very fine crystals. Any surface marks or blemishes are polished away and a smooth-looking surface is left behind.
Chemical Peel – a chemical peel for your hands is also the same as it would be for your face. The solution is applied and the tissue flakes away, along with age spots and other imperfections.
Injectable Fillers – when you get fillers injected into your hands, they will add volume so your hands plump up and lose that bony, aged appearance.
Intense Pulse Light Treatment – known as IPL, is a relatively new kind of treatment for hand rejuvenation that has garnered some favorable results. This treatment is also known as Photo Rejuvenation Limelight, and it uses high intensity bursts of light to effectively eliminate skin discoloration associated with aging.
IPL is preferred by many patients because there is basically no downtime and the level of discomfort is negligible. Intense pulse light treatment helps smooth out the texture of the skin and even the tone to make it seem as though your hands went back in time to before those effects of aging made themselves known.
Whether the condition is liver spots, wrinkles or creases, broken blood vessels or dilated blood vessels, once the light reaches its target it converts to heat energy which in turn eliminates the problem. It often takes several treatments to get the job done, but the results are impressive. You’ll get a better sense of how many treatments are necessary during your consultation.
Fat Transfer to the Hands
One popular treatment for volume replacement to the hands is fat transfer. Dr. Kesarwani has pioneered the transfer of fat to the hands to make hands look younger. Your own fat is suctioned away from another part of your body, processed and meticulously injected under the skin of the hands. This plumps up the hands, makes bony knuckles less obvious and hides prominent and twisted veins. The transferred fat also improves the quality of the skin. More and more when we are doing liposuction , rather than throwing away the suctioned fat we are finding uses for it and are recycling it to other parts of the body!
Dr. Kesarwani was one of the first surgeons in North America to perform fat transfer to the hands. He has been doing it since the 1990s. As a board certified plastic surgeon, it’s quite common to use fat grafts to correct a wide variety of aesthetic and functional issues, so Dr. Kesarwani has extensive experience in this area.
Another way to restore volume is to use injectable filler products, such as Sculptra and Juvéderm. However, these methods tend to yield results that don’t last as long as fat transfer.
Aesthetic Issues That Affect the Hands
After our face, our hands are often our most exposed body part. The skin on the hands tends to be delicate and therefore is prone to the damaging affects of the environment and aging.
Discolouration
Age spots and pigment can be improved with photorejuvenation, Fraxel Skin Resurfacing, chemical peels and laser skin tightening. These nonsurgical methods of skin rejuvenation are designed to modify the cellular structure of your skin to make it healthier and stronger.
Tips on Preventing Discolouration
1. Use Sunscreen Throughout The Year
It’s not just in summertime that your hands are subject to ultraviolet light that can damage the skin. This issue can occur during winter time as well. In order to protect your hands, it’s important that you use sunscreen throughout the year for the very highest levels of protection.
2. Cover Up As Much As Possible
When outside, try to wear gloves as much as possible. This can help to keep all areas of the hands protected against the harsh sunlight. You might also consider using an umbrella during the times of peak sunlight to help further minimize the potential for age spots on your skin.
3. Commit To Healthy Living
Eating a large daily dose of fruits and vegetables has been shown in medical studies to have many benefits for your skin. The data shows that vitamins in fruit and vegetables can help keep skin supple and ensure the skin retains its natural elasticity over time.
4. Choose Expert Treatment
It’s inevitable that you will begin to notice some form of aging on your skin as you grow older. But the most important element in achieving the ideal skin appeal is how you respond to the aging process. Some choose unproven remedies that simply don’t have any value. It’s important to work with a recognized specialist in addressing any signs of age spots. Skin resurfacing and chemical peels are two of the leading and most effective treatment options.
5. Start Your Skin Rejuvenation Program Now
In order to mitigate the worst effects of the aging process, it’s important that you begin protecting the skin on your hands immediately. Committing to this process now can help keep your skin in optimal condition for years to come, and will limit the amount of work you have to undertake to retain a clear and healthy complexion.
Volume Loss, Prominent Tendons and Boniness
Volume loss in the hands is caused by loss of skin elasticity and fat depletion. Both of this issues are caused by age, trauma, environmental damage and to a certain extent, weight fluctuations. With volume loss, the bones in the hands become more prominent and you end up with hands that can add years to your age.
There are a number of treatment options available to replace volume loss and improve skin quality.
Important Questions to Ask
Like with any medical procedure, it’s a good idea to ask some pointed questions during your consultation for hand rejuvenation treatment. Some questions you’d do well to have the answers to before any treatment is performed include:
- What specific treatment is best for my hands?
- How many sessions will it take?
- Are my desired results realistic?
- How long will recovery take, and what’s involved?
- How many of these procedures have you performed?
- Can I see some before and after pictures?
- Are complications common with this procedure?
There are likely more questions you’ll think of as you go through the process, and by all means ask every one of them. Cosmetic hand rejuvenation is far from a major procedure, but you still want the correct treatment and results that will make you proud to show your hands to everyone you meet.