Aging hands are characterized by thin skin, volume loss, wrinkles & pigmentation. These changes can be effectively reversed with BBL, lasers, & collagen stimulating fillers. Prescription compounded skin care can preserve the results for many years.
Key Points
- Hands are one of the first sites of skin ageing
- Simple & effective treatments can easily reverse the signs of ageing
- Lasers, BBL, & chemical peels improve wrinkles, sun damage & pigmentation
- Collagen stimulating fillers replenish loss volume & plumps up the area
- Procedures take 10-15 minutes to perform
Hand Rejuvenation at a glance
Our results speak for themselves
FAQs
How to approach hand rejuvenation?
Rejuvenating hands follows the rules of skin rejuvenation, namely, to improve skin texture, tone, & volume.
- Skin texture: refers to the palate. This includes wrinkles, sunspots, age spots & pigmentation. The solution? Lasers, peels, or BBL.
- Skin tone: how tight is the skin? To tighten skin, we use lasers & collagen stimulating fillers.
- Volume: loss of fat gives rise to veins & tendons. We replace volume with collagen stimulating fillers or autologous fat transfer.
What lasers do we use to rejuvenate hands?
We customise a laser program based upon the severity of sun damage & pigmentation.
- Light pigment, mild wrinkles: BBL Hero & Pico lasers
- Heavy pigment, more wrinkles: Fraxel laser
- Extensive sun damage & wrinkles: CO2 & Fraxel lasers
Factors we consider when choosing a laser include the amount of wrinkling, the presence of precancerous spots (solar keratosis), the type of pigmentation (age warts, sunspots, solar keratosis, freckles).
Which is better, BBL Hero or Fraxel laser?
Skin to comparing a fork or a spoon, it really depends on the application.
- BBL is used for flat pigment on the background of minimal wrinkling.
- Fractional lasers are best for raised pigmented areas with wrinkles & sun damage.
Our nurses & dermatologists are trained to combine both BBL & fractional lasers in the one session if it is indicated. This way we can address all aspects of skin aging.
How would I know what is the correct combination of treatments?
Our nurses are highly skilled in all aspects of hand rejuvenation, including lasers & soft tissue fillers. Book for a FREE consultation.
*T&Cs apply
What is the pain factor?
Minimal. On a 1-10 scale, lasers rate as 2/10. We use numbing gel prior. The BBL has inbuilt sapphire cooling, lasers have auxiliary chilled air coolers.
Why is blending important when treating the hands?
Unlike the face, where the jawline clearly delineates the face from the neck, there is no transition zone on the hands & arms. See how the sun damaged outside arm slowly transitions to the sun protected inner arm?
It is not about treatments not working, it’s about treatments working too well. Therefore, you can see the rectangular footprints of IPL & BBL. We can achieve blending with-
- Less passes to the periphery
- More treatments
- Fractional lasers
- Pigment correcting topicals
Your treating nurse will discuss the projected timelines with you during the initial consultation.
How long is the recovery?
It depends on the type of laser & the settings. As a guide-
- BBL Hero: 2-5 days of flaking & peeling
- Fraxel: 4-6+ days
- Hybrid CO2: 5-8 days
For deeper fractional laser resurfacing, you must limit wet work (washing, doing the dishes) for at least one week.
You must avoid sun exposure for 2 weeks pre & post laser.
How many sessions will I require?
For facial rejuvenation, in 95% of cases we get the job done in one session. For hands & forearms it can take up to 3 sessions for optimal results. This is due to –
- Poorer healing on the hands & arms
The need for blending to achieve a natural result
What is the importance of volume?
As we age, we lose volume. The hands are one of the first areas to give away your age! Volume replacement cannot be replenished with lasers, microneedling or Growth factor injections. There are two ways to replace volume- dermal fillers or fat transfer.
Lasers can markedly improve the appearance of aging hands by improving skin quality. Volume replacement can be achieved with collagen stimulating dermal fillers. The best results are achieved when dermatologists combine both these modality.
What types of fillers do we use?
We use 3 main groups of fillers for hand rejuvenation.
Calcium hydroxyapatite: this filler stimulates collagen production; hence it provides volume AND revs up your immune system to produce collagen & hyaluronic acid. You will see results immediately, but it continues to build over 3 months.
Learn more (link to collagen stimulating dermal fillers in the dermal filler section)
Poly-L-Lactic acid: this is also a collagen stimulating filler, but it is more fluid compared to calcium hydroxy. It is mainly used to correct large volume defects.
Hyaluronic acid: In Australia we have limited brands, a new HA filler is due in 2022 -23 that provides better tissue integration. The downside of HA fillers is the cost & the longevity. They provide great tissue integration, but the results don’t last as long as collagen stimulating fillers.
What is fat transfer & is it better than dermal fillers?
Our dermatologists are highly skilled in fat transfer. This is another option.
Fat has the following advantages-
- Natural source of volume
- Large amounts can be harvested (>5-10 ml each hand)
- No allergies
- Fat provides ASC or adipose stem cells
Stem cells can then form collagen stimulating cells or differentiate into skin cells that replace old cells. This can improve volume, wrinkles, as well as improve skin quality, namely decrease pigmentation, & sun damage.
The major disadvantage of fat is the amount of natural resorption over the first 6 months. It can be greater than 50%, hence why fat transfer is a two-stage procedure.
Can fillers, & lasers be conducted on the same day?
Absolutely, we can safely combine dermal fillers, fat transfer, BBL & lasers on the same day. We normally conduct filling before lasers.
What creams are good for hand rejuvenation?
Hand rejuvenating creams are different from anti-aging creams used on the face as they need to be stronger, given the thicker skin on the hands & arms. A simple routine is-
AM: Salicylic acid scrub, antioxidants, SPF.
PM: Neutrogena Hand cream before bed.
Dermatologists also compound creams with retinol, vitamin C, glycolic, lactic & salicylic acids. Creams are best used for maintaining the results post laser. The concentration of topicals will vary according to your age & clinical findings.
Can chemical peels rejuvenate the hands?
Yes, but in this area, lasers do a much better job as they can blend in the surrounding skin better than chemical peels.
Spot treatment of TCA 30%-50% can also be used to individually treat age spots. This treatment does not blend in with the surrounding skin. It can only be performed on lighter skin types.
We do however use high strength AHAs post lasers to preserve the results for many years.
How do dermatologists treat solar keratosis on the hands/arms?
Isolated sunspots are easy- liquid nitrogen, PDT, or a combination of treatments can give good results.
Field changes (many sunspots on the background of aged skin) are more challenging. Solutions include-
- Pre-treatment with keratolytic exfoliant, usually salicylic acid
- Efudix, pulsed or allocated treatment cycle
- Curette with above
- Fractional lasers with above
- PDT with above
What can be done about thin skin & bruising on the hands & arms?
This age-related problem is super common. It’s a combination of a reduction of collagen secondary to age & chronic UV exposure. Blood thinners including anticoagulants, aspirin, warfarin & blood thinning supplements contribute. Solutions include-
- Herbal arnica topically
- Compression stockings
- A series of gentle fractional lasers, 3-6 over 6-9 months
- Collagen stimulating dermal fillers
- Vascular lasers for the bruising
Though common, bruising on the forearms & hands can be challenging to treat as we do not have the technology to globally thicken the dermis & provide targeted collagen to the blood vessel walls.
What to consider if you are contemplating hand rejuvenation treatments?
Here is a quick checklist-
Aims of rejuvenation: Never start off with a treatment then try to match it with your concern. It is ALWAYS the other way around. Concerned with pigmentation? Explore lasers. Volume loss? Consider fillers & fat transfer.
Blending: The hands go up to the forearms, then the upper arms. You need to BLEND, or it will look unnatural with a clear border.