White spots on the legs caused by sun damage!
Hello - I have small white spots on my legs and arms. My dermatologist said they are a result of loss of pigment due to so much tanning. I am in my early 60's. I wear a broad spectrum sunscreen of 30 or above daily because I run and bike, but the spots are still there and I'm embarrassed about the way I look in shorts, dresses, and skirts. Please help. Is there anything I can put on my legs and arms to reduce the appearance of these white spots or get rid of them all together? Thank you so much.
YES – there are definately things to do to help with these. I’ll give you some ideas from least expensive to most expensive:
- Make sure your sunscreen is at least 7-15% zinc. Try using a cream layer base with the Colorscience powder block over that to get a really effective sun block or………..bike/run in long tights. You really can’t tan at all if you want to get rid of these.
- Exfoliate regularly with a glycolic type lotion or cream on your lower legs nightly and a gently scrub or loofah at least once a week. This helps to get skin cell turnover more active.
- When you’re in a season where you can completely cover your legs, try a series of gentle hydroxy peels through a good dermatologist or salon. About 1 a month for 3 months.
- Then start to consider lasers. IPLs work fairly well but are sometimes tricky for offices to get to work well without striping occurring. Start with a series of 3.
- Or, even more effective but more committment is a Fraxel Dual on the lower legs – think about 2 treatments and only go to a very reputable office that does a lot of laser work for this
Hope this helps, Dr. I
