Dr. Julia Carroll is a dermatologist at Bay Dermatology Centre

What are age spots?
Age spots are known as solar lentigos (medical term). This is a fancy word for freckle (if it’s caused by sun). The other type of age spot is a seborrheic keratoses (these spots are inherited).

Solar lentigos are seen equally in both men and women. Most common places for age spots are face, chest, back of hands. People can start getting age spots as early as their 20s. 
 
How do we get them?
The UV light (aka radiation) exposure causes an increase in the number of melanocytes which are the pigmented cells in the skin.

How to prevent?
Sunscreen and covering up from the sun
 
Treatments

There are various treatments from various price points:

• Low-end treatments: Sunscreen. You can also get a prescription for Retin A (used in wrinkle creams, acne) from a dermatologist.
• Medium-end treatments: Cryo-therapy
• High-end treatments: Laser