If you have ever found a strange blemish on your skin, you know how scary and confusing the experience can be. Especially when you can't get a straight answer out of anyone ("this a liver spot reaction"! "oh, yeah, my doctor says they're called age spots!...etc.).

Because there are many different ways of naming the same thing, it's easy to be confused about age spots, sun spots and liver spots. But the question remains: what exactly are age spots, how do they form, and how can I get rid of them?

Know your sun spots - the first step

Age spots, sun spots or liver spots - sometimes called senile/solar lentigines or lentigos - are small freckle-like spots, usually brown or redish, that are most commonly found on exposed areas of the body like the face, hands and shoulders. Sun spots can also range in color - from light brown to red or even black, depending on skin tone and level of exposure to the sun. Liver spots often cause the skin to look older and damaged.

Concerns about sun spots are mostly cosmetic, because the majority of them are not a health threat. However, average person's eye cannot distinguish skin cancer from harmless dark spots. It is therefore of vital concern that you see a dermatologist to ensure that any sun spots you may have are not cancerous.

Why do sun spots occur?

Sun spots are a result of skin sun damage. Spotting and hyper-pigmentation occur when the skin's melanocytes begin to overproduce the body's melanin components. Melanocytes are the skin cell components responsible for darkening the skin during and after sun bathing.

The problem occurs when melanocytes act up and make an excess amount of the melanin pigment. This melanin overload causes the skin to turn red or brownish, resulting in what we call sun spots, and can also lead to melasma.

How can age spots be removed?

Sun and age spots can fortunately be removed using simple medical procedures, cosmetic treatments and certain aging skin care products. Those folks interested in skin regeneration should thoroughly investigate the different available programs for skin renovation today. Among the most common age spot remover techniques list: Laser Surgery, Microdermabrasion, Chemical Peels and Bleaching Creams.