Sun Damage & Pigment

Sun Damage and Age Spot Treatment in Walnut Creek

Sun damage responds well to treatment, which is the good news. Before any of that though, there is one thing to check, because not every spot on your skin is a cosmetic problem and the difference matters more than anything else on this page.

Book Consultation Call (925) 476-5343

Microdermabrasion facial with a diamond wand on the cheek

Overview

First, Get the Spot Checked. Then We Can Talk About Treatment.

Most of the marks people want removed are solar lentigines, the flat brown spots that turn up on the face, chest, shoulders and backs of the hands. They are harmless, they are caused by sun exposure rather than by age despite the name, and they respond well to treatment.

But some spots are not that. If anything on your skin is new, changing in size, shape or colour, irregular at the edges, itching, bleeding or crusting over, see a doctor before you see us or anybody else. Treating a lesion cosmetically can disguise something that needed diagnosing. If you are unsure, that counts as a reason to get it looked at. We will say the same thing at your consultation, and we would rather send you away than treat something we should not.

With that dealt with, here is how sun damage actually works. It is cumulative. The spots surfacing on your face now were earned over decades, which is why people reach their forties and appear to develop a lifetime of holidays all at once. Nothing suddenly went wrong. The damage was already there and has become visible.

Treatment can clear a great deal of it. Light-based treatment breaks up distinct pigment spots, peels improve overall tone and the roughened texture that comes with photodamage, and gentler resurfacing handles the milder end. All of that genuinely works.

And here is the condition attached to it. None of it holds unless you protect your skin daily afterwards. Sun damage treatment without sunscreen is paying to empty a bucket with a hole in it, and we will keep saying that until it sounds boring, because it is the difference between a result that lasts years and one that lasts a season.

Who It Is For

You have flat brown spots on your face, chest, shoulders or hands.
Your skin tone has gone uneven and blotchy rather than developing distinct spots.
Texture has roughened and your skin looks weathered compared with protected areas.
You have noticed a decade of sun appearing all at once, which is normal rather than sudden.
You are willing to wear sunscreen daily afterwards, because without it the result will not hold.
If a spot is new, changing, irregular or itchy, see a doctor first. That is not us being cautious for the sake of it.

Book Consultation

Why Clients Choose It

Benefits

Checked First

Anything that needs a doctor gets referred rather than treated.

Clearer Spots

Distinct pigment spots respond well to targeted light-based treatment.

More Even Tone

Blotchiness and general photodamage improve across a course.

Smoother Texture

Sun-roughened skin softens as the surface is resurfaced.

The Right Route

Sent to light, peels or gentler resurfacing depending on your skin, not on a package.

Protection Plan

You leave knowing how to keep the result rather than repeating the treatment yearly.

Ready When You Are

Book Your Sun Damage & Age Spots Session

Start with a free consultation and we map out the plan that suits your goals.

Book Consultation Call (925) 476-5343

Read our client reviews

Your Visit

Preparation & Aftercare

Before Your Visit

Get anything suspicious checked first. New, changing, irregular, itchy, bleeding or crusting spots go to a doctor before any cosmetic treatment. If in doubt, that is the answer.
Stay out of the sun beforehand. Recently tanned or sun-exposed skin cannot be treated safely with light-based treatment. Plan for winter rather than August.
No fake tan either. It interferes with light-based treatment in the same way a real tan does.
Start wearing sunscreen now. Before the treatment, not after. It also tells us you will keep the result.
Tell us about medication. Some medicines make skin far more light-sensitive, which changes what is safe.

What to Expect

We look at the spots properly and separate what is cosmetic from anything that should be seen by a doctor. Then we work out what kind of damage you have, because distinct spots, uneven tone and roughened texture respond to different treatments, and we take your skin tone into account because it changes what is safe. You leave with a route and a protection plan rather than a package.

Aftercare

Daily broad-spectrum sunscreen, all year. This is the whole deal, not a suggestion.
Spots often darken before they clear after light-based treatment. That is expected, not a bad sign.
Stay out of direct sun while your skin settles, and reapply properly when you cannot.
Add a hat and shade in summer. Sunscreen alone rarely covers a full day outdoors.
Remember that windows do not stop UVA, so driving and sitting by a window still count.
Expect to top up the treatment over the years. New damage keeps surfacing from exposure you had long ago.

Recovery & Results

Recovery depends on which treatment we recommend, so the detail sits on the relevant page and comes up at your consultation. What applies across all of them: results build over weeks as pigment clears, spots commonly darken before they fade, and a course usually beats a single session. The long-term picture is that sun damage keeps surfacing from exposure you already had, so occasional top-ups are normal. What decides whether you need those every few years or every year is entirely how consistently you protect your skin in between.

Your Questions

Frequently Asked

How do I know if a spot needs a doctor rather than a treatment?

Get it checked if it is new, if it has changed in size, shape or colour, if the edges are irregular, if it itches, bleeds or crusts over, or if you simply are not sure. Uncertainty is a good enough reason. Treating a lesion cosmetically can hide something that needed diagnosing, which is why we will refer rather than treat if there is any doubt.

Why has all this appeared suddenly?

It has not, it has surfaced. Sun damage accumulates over decades before it becomes visible, so the spots arriving on your face now were caused by exposure years and often decades ago. It is why the change seems abrupt in your forties. Nothing has gone wrong recently.

What is the best treatment for age spots?

For distinct brown spots, light-based treatment is the most direct route, because it targets the pigment specifically. For general blotchiness and the roughened texture that comes with sun damage, a chemical peel does more. Milder cases do well with gentler resurfacing. Which one suits you depends on what your skin is actually showing, and that is what the consultation is for.

Will the spots come back?

The ones treated are gone, but new ones surface from damage you already have, and any further sun exposure adds more. Daily protection is what keeps that to a slow trickle instead of a yearly return. Without it you will be back sooner and paying again for the same result.

Do the spots get darker before they fade?

Usually yes, after light-based treatment, and it catches people out. The pigment lifts toward the surface and looks more obvious for a while before it clears. It is expected. Your specialist will tell you what timeline to expect for your skin.

Can I have it done in summer?

It is not the best plan. Light-based treatment cannot be done safely on recently tanned or sun-exposed skin, and the aftercare requires staying out of the sun while your skin settles. Autumn and winter are the sensible seasons for this, which is also when clinics are quieter.

Is it safe for darker skin tones?

It can be, with proper assessment rather than a standard setting. Light-based treatment of pigment carries different risks across skin tones, including post-inflammatory pigmentation. Anywhere treating every skin tone the same way is not assessing you properly, and for some presentations a peel or a gentler route is the better choice.

Your Turn