Got Sun Spots on your Skin? Vitamin C Treatment Worked For Me

Get Rid of Sunspots on Your Skin

No matter how small those brown spots are, you just want to get rid of them. They're especially bothersome when they show up on your face!

Ahead I'll show you some skin treatments and how to get rid of or lighten those annoying age spots on your face, neck and hands.

Anyone who gets regular sun exposure will eventually begin to notice sun dark spots on their skin and face.

Sunspots, (solar lentigines or age spots as they are also called), are caused by prolonged exposure to the sun - specifically ultra violet rays.

They usually look like flat brown or coco colored dots and appear on areas that get the most sun exposure.

NOTE: If you see changes or discoloration on your skin, please always check with a dermatologist to make sure it's not something more serious before trying any suggestions on this page.

Whether you have brown spots on your face, or just a few liver spots on your hands or neck...

Do sun spots go away?

No. These spots may get lighter in the winter or when you're not exposed to sunlight. But, they're always be there because spots on the skin are an indication of sun damage.

How do I get rid of my sunspots?

They are a lot of non-surgical treatments and over-the-counter products to remove or lighten sunspots. I've tried both, expensive laser and over-the-counter options.

The problem with the laser treatments they will come back, not exactly in the same spot, but if you keep exposing yourself to the sun, they will come back. So repeated treatments will always be necessary.

For this reason, I'll list over-the-counter product you can use to keep them in check first. As this is a less expensive option that in-office laser treatments.

Vitamin C for skin lightening

Vitamin C can help lighten and brighten skin tone and discoloration. Vitamin C naturally helps suppress pigment formation, so over time, those brown sunspots on your face and hands will begin to lighten up.

According to The Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology (JCAD) "Vitamin C is the most powerful antioxidant in the skin, vitamin C has been shown to protect against photoaging, ultraviolet-induced immunosuppression, and photocarcinogenesis. It also has an antiaging effect by increasing collagen synthesis, stabilizing collagen fibers, and decreasing collagen degradation. It decreases melanin formation, thereby reducing pigmentation. ¹

And, as a side benefit, Vitamin C helps protect against collagen degradation and increase production.

Does fresh vitamin C work to lighten sunspots on skin?

In the first two pictures below, you can see my results after only a few months of using a vitamin C serum.

Compare the dark sun spot on my neck skin (on the left) to the after picture on the right. It's almost gone and the middle ring around my neck is smoother.

However, you can still see a lot of sun damage and tiny spots on my skin.

how to reduce sun spots on skin with vitamin C lightening treatments

Age spots before and after pictures. See my neck progress here...

Several months later, my skin looks better, smoother and while you can still see the sun spot, it's much lighter and less noticeable.

Facts about reducing age spots with Vitamin C

Sounds too good to be true? Well, there are some facts you need to know to get the best results.

Most treatments usually work better on the facial skin because it’s thinner. Treating sunspots on your arms and legs can be really difficult due to the thickness of the skin in those areas.

Here are some tips to get better results when trying to lighten sun spots.

L-Ascorbic Acid is the best form of C to use on your skin to lighten spots and discoloration. However, this form degrades quickly. So the chances of getting good results are slim, unless you use fresh vitamin C. Most store bought creams that contain vitamin C are not potent or fresh enough. The best way to get good results is to mix up a fresh batch of serum and use it within 30 days, then make another fresh batch.
Exfoliation such as scrubs, chemical peels, laser resurfacing, and microdermabrasion will speed up the process and diminish their severity. Exfoliation is especially important if you're going to use C serums to help lighten the spots.

Click here to see how to mix fresh C serum to lighten sunspots and important facts to know - to get the best results.

Other dark spot remover treatments for your face

What are some other treatments to get rid of sunspots on skin?

A less costly treatment includes lightening serums and lotions formulated for sun damaged skin.

Two good ones to consider are:

- Clinique’s Even Better Clinical Skin Corrector

- Zenmed Skin Eraser

- Murad Skin Lightening 30 Day Kit

More pricey spot removal options

Prescription retinols and exfoliating creams such as Tretinoin and Renova are also good at fading spots as well.

More extreme measures to remove spots from sensitive facial skin are chemical peels, IPL (intense pulsed light) and laser resurfacing like:

Fraxel
CO2 laser
Clear & Brilliant

Ask your dermatologist which is best for your condition.

Over-the-counter retinols can help lighten sunspots on the face (not the body), but my take a longer time to achieve desired results.

A relatively quick, in-office procedure is Cryotherapy. It freezes the spot using liquid nitrogen, which causes scabbing and after a week fall off to reveal new skin. But, unfortunately, this option didn't work for the age spots on my body.

My calf is covered with age spots and nothing really gets rid of them.

Spots on my legs

NOTE: This may not work for deep spots on the arms and legs. I've had this done several times and still have spots on my lower legs.

Can you remove sun spots at home?

What about all natural home remedies?

Forget it!

They really don’t work, at least not for me.

You might be able to lighten them a bit, but they’ll never go away completely.

None-the-less, if you’re interested in trying some, a few natural solutions, or you only have one or two spots to worry about.

You can try rubbing lemon juice, buttermilk, vitamin E, or a green tea bag directly on the area twice daily until they are gone.

And remember to wear UVA/UVB sunscreen of at least 30 SPF daily, so you don’t worsen or create new sunspots on your skin.

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