Along with our face, our hands are one of the first parts of the body which start showing the visible signs of aging and can therefore be a giveaway when it comes to telling a person's age.
When you think about it, our hands are constantly exposed to harmful elements such as too much sunlight. We can overlook our hands when applying sun care lotions and failing to protect our hands in this way can accelerate the aging process. Our hands are also exposed to other harmful substances that we might come into contact with on a day to day basis.
Our hands are an important feature of our body and other than our face, are often on display the majority of the time. We sometimes don’t think about our hands when updating or appearance or opting for rejuvenation procedures.
Nowadays, thanks to the range of treatments available for hand rejuvenation, we can improve our overall appearance by having youthful looking hands.
HOW HAND REJUVENATION CAN HELP YOU LOOK MORE YOUTHFUL
The visible signs of aging in the hands can include dark spots (sometimes known as age spots) and wrinkly skin. Furthermore the loss of fatty tissue (tissue atrophy) and volume as we age can make the hands look bony. As we age, generally our skin loses its elasticity and not only becomes wrinkled but the skin on the backs of our hands can adopt a crepe like texture.
Hand rejuvenation can enhance the look of your hands by creating a smoother appearance, removing age spots, adding volume and giving contour to the backs of the hands thus regaining a more youthful look. This in turn can help boost your self-confidence and make you less self-conscious. The old way of telling someone’s age by the appearance of the hands will no longer apply to you.
With hand rejuvenation you really can turn back the hands of time.
TECHNIQUES AVAILABLE
The good news is that there are many techniques available for those looking to restore a youthful appearance to the hands. These can be standalone treatments or a combination of them all.
Injectable fillers and volumizers mean that it is now possible to make your hands look 10 to 15 years younger in just a day.
DERMAL FILLERS
Dermal fillers are effective treatments which provide volume to the back of the hands and help restore a youthful look. This type of treatment is non-invasive and requires little down time. When these fillers are injected into the hands they can plump up the skin, fill in hollow areas and add voluminous contour to the hands.
Dermal fillers can be effective if:
- The veins on the back of your hands are prominent
- The backs of your hands have developed wrinkles and fine lines.
- Due to loss of volume your hands appear bony and thin.
THE USE OF CALCIUM HYDROXYLAPATITE
An effective, safe and minimally invasive dermal filler is Calcium Hydroxylapatite or CaHA. CaHA properties include high elasticity and viscosity and therefore its use as a dermal filler can have an immediate noticeable volumizing effect on the hands. It also benefits from a significant decrease in downtime for patients when compared to some other hand rejuvenation techniques. Because CaHA is the heaviest of dermal fillers it is often used as facial filler. Its properties have been shown to be particularly effective for hand rejuvenation and it also stimulates the formation of new collagen. Another reason it is effective as a hand rejuvenation treatment is because of its opaque quality which means that it is great for covering protruding veins. This substance, which is found naturally in human bones, was first used in dentistry and reconstructive surgery and therefore has a long safety record.
Another great feature of CaHA is that it is biosynthetically produced, which means that no animals or animal products are used. This lowers your risk of an allergic reaction and as a result no skin testing is required.
CaHA as a dermal filler produces a very natural result.
Other hand rejuvenation techniques are as follows:
Prescription skin care
There are now many topical creams available which can help improve the appearance of your hands. These typically provide your skin with a smoother feel, help repair sun damaged skin and help age spots to fade.Chemical Peels
Chemical peels separate and ’peel’ the outer layer of the skin which reveals a new skin which is generally more smooth with less wrinkles, age spots and sun damage. Chemical peels generally result in a minor to modest improvement in skin pigmentation and texture and the ’peel’ itself can come in different strengths.Microdermabrasion
This procedure involves ’sanding’ off the first layer of your skin with tiny crystals. As with chemical peels this technique can improve the look of aging skin and help reduce the appearance of age spots. This treatment can leave your skin feeling refreshed.Fat Grafting
Fat grafting is a filling technique whereby fat is taken from one area of the body, usually by the use of a syringe or some form of low pressure suction and then relocated into the back of the hands.IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) Treatment
This treatment is effective for sun damage, unsightly veins and age spots all of which are treated with short bursts of laser light. This treatment also promotes the growth of collagen.Combination Treatment
Because we are all unique, have different issues to address and age at different rates, it may be that a combination of the methods outlined above be employed to combat the signs of ageing in the hands.IMPORTANT NOTE
Every treatment that is performed needs to be evaluated by its risks and benefits. Minimally invasive procedures will, in general, have a lower risk profile.
It is important you have realistic expectations of the outcome of each treatment.
A consultation with the physician will be required to determine which treatment is best for you and suitable for your needs.
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