My hands age me!

[RomeoOscarXrayXray]

I have a photo to share, I’m presuming it will take a wee while to get approved.

Look at the back of my hand, both hands are like this. None of my similar aged friends have hands like this. What TF is it?

Can I do anything about it?

@Naysayer999I use tretinoin and hydroquinone. Both will help dark spots. Tretinoin accelerates skin cell turnover, which sheds existing dark spots faster and regulates melanin production to prevent new discoloration.
Hydroquinone specifically inhibits tyrosinase, the enzyme responsible for melanin production. You can only use hydroquinone for a few months at a time so I use it each winter to fade dark spots on my face and hands. I use tret every night, all year round.

I've seen loads of hijabi women's necks and there's quite a range I would say, in the same way with the rest of the population. The one thing I haven't seen is the ultra sun exposed 'cracking' of the skin on neck/upper chest that I've seen on some older women. So a lot of it comes down to genetics I think.
Edited: culturally there can be a preference for lighter skin, so many older women may have used daily sunblock long before it became popular in the general population.

I'm in my 50s and have hands similar to yours. I blame it on the years I spent living in the fierce sun of the Middle East. I did use sunscreen but inevitably some damage still got done.

I've started using retinol on my hands as well as my face, and I think it's made a difference. I also use hydroquinone cream to lighten the sun spots, and it has had some effect. It's presciption only here, but I buy it from the same online pharmacy in Andorra where I get my retinol. One tube lasts several months.

I have just bought some after reading your post! Thank you.

I posted a similar post to this last year aged 47! I got one of those small sun sticks (not the roll one but the waxy ones like wild deodrant). I keep it in my bag and by the front door and roll it over the tops of my hands before I go out. If I put normal sun cream all over my hands its sticky. Still need to reapply after washing hands but it's easier than creams.

@changenameagain555 Good idea. I also worry about SPF staining the sleeves of long sleeve tops. What roll on SPF do you use?

This one
https://www.boots.com/soltan-kids-protect-and-moisturise-suncare-stick-spf50and-25g-10300440?srsltid=AfmBOopn6j_t2t-GnMvpkmZXKSRw-2y4fdGN_YHHTTzfxL-8zegD6s9a

@Breadcat24 were your hands wrinkly too or does this just get rid of the spots?
My hands are in & out of water all day with work & they're so old looking, no spots yet, just wrinkly 😫

Erm.. well done I guess? But unhelpful.

Apologies to the OP for hijacking this thread, but can I ask which pharmacy you use @IcedPurple ? There appears to be a few.

OP can I recommend that if you decide on a night cream/treatment that you get a pair of cotton gloves off Amazon. I use them most nights, of course I take them off in my sleep but for whatever length of time they're on, my hands always look and feel great in the mornings. I also use moisturizer on my feet at night and wear cotton socks, have lovely soft smooth feet since I started this!

I have found Farmacia Andorra to be good for retinol and hydroquinone products.

https://www.farmaciaenandorra.com/shop/

Delivery is pricey but the products are excellent and reasonably priced. They make up their own formulations which they don't advertise on the website. You have to email them. I've ordered from them a few times and found them reliable. They did mess up part of my order once but refunded me quickly when I pointed out the mistake.

You used to be able to buy retinal over the counter in any Spanish pharmacy but I think the regulations have changed and you now need a prescription. I might be wrong on this however.

I see a skin specialist who has prescribed me tretinoin, which I use every couple of nights to prevent wrinkles. I saw her again this week, and my next target was dark spots, and so she recommended vitamin c and hydroquinone and prescribed a c-clarifying serum. I’ve also had a darker one lasered off, along with a couple of moles.

I’ve also ordered Tret from here. Much cheaper than what the specialist I mentioned above charges (I think I paid her £120 for one tube, and got 3 tubes delivered for €108 at Farmacia). I’ll be looking at them for the hydroquinone.

As long as you dont wear gloves like Madonna did/does you will be fine. No one noticed her hands until she made a point of them!

Google “IPL” (Intense pulsed light) treatments in your area.

Typical true Briton skin with sun kisses 💕

I’m curious and baffled by all this info. I’ve bought that citygoo stuff from Amazon.

I’m 48 and have done nothing to my skin all my life. I don’t wear make up (other than mascara and lipstick on special occasions). I wash my face with imperial leather soap!

I use SPF when abroad, but not really in Scotland. I mostly avoid the sun.

I’d really like someone to tell me use this product at this time.

An Antipodean friend made me promise to start using a daily SPF on my face so I bought Oil of Olay 7 in one. SPF 15. (Costco!) I’m putting that on the back of my hands too.

Do you think that’s enough?

Oh and thank you to everyone. I appreciate it.

@RomeoOscarXrayXraya moisturiser with SPF is no good-even in Scotland. You need a separate SPF to be effective preventing lines and age spots. La Roche Posay SPF is good. P20 is a good one too but I’ve never tried that. For your hands I would just keep one of the stick SPFs at your back door and whizz that over your hands before you leave the house.
Edited to say it should be SPF 50.

I’m 54 and mine are exactly like yours! They were more freckly but I wear factor 50 every day and once I’ve applied I put the excess on the back of my hands and just wash the palms if they are sticky. Its definitely worked.

Agree. Op I’ve just got a small tube of factor 50 five star kids stuff from Tesco, less than £3 and it’s amazingly not thick and chalky. Probably no good for under make up (will keep La Roche posay for that) but fine for face and hands if just out and about.

I'm in my 50s and I was reading this with interest but then I realised that have no hope with the nodes on my joints. I just have to accept that I have old lady hands and keep them hidden. I loathe them 😢

@sociableintrovert123i don’t even normally wear moisturiser.

i hate the feeling of things on my skin. Especially SPF. 🤢

I’ll look into that stuff you suggest. Ugh.

Hi all
I find that if my hands look wrinkly I am dehydrated and so drink a lot of water in response.
@RomeoOscarXrayXray hope you get on with the city goo it worked for me but I have started on the vaseline one because I am cheap and it is spf 20
I am reserving the citygoo for dabbing on big brown marks on my arms and face

The Citygoo stuff isn't a bleach is it? I had a quick look at the ingredients and seems ok but ..