Brown / Age Spot Removal for a Man, Without Beard Loss?

asked 5 months ago by laser4manface
Latest answer by Channing R. Barnett, MD
Question viewed 209 times
Tags: male, hair loss, side effects

I'm a man with brown/age spots on my face. I want to use a laser for fading them, such as an IPL, Pulsed Dye, Erbium YAG Q-switched, etc. But these lasers have the side-effect of removing hair. I don't want to have "empty patches" of no beard! HELP: What lasers can remove spots but don't affect hair growth?? (Oh, and if you recommend fractionated lasers like Fraxel or FX, okay, but from several doctors' comments, they don't zero-in on spots as much as the IPL, PDL, Yag/Q-sw lasers).

5 answers to Brown / Age Spot Removal for a Man, Without Beard Loss?

Improve Brown Age Spots While Preserving Facial Hair

If you are bothered by your age spots and would like them treated without losing facial hair, a great treatment option is chemical peeling. There are many different types and strengths of chemical peels, the selection of which depends on the individual's skin type, areas of concern and ability or inability to have much downtime. Chemical peeling is also an excellent treatment modality for skin tightening and for improving fine lines and wrinkles, texture, pores, tone and sun damage... more

Channing R. Barnett, MD
New York Dermatologist

Fade age spots without losing hair

Why not consider a chemical peel? This is a perfect way to remove or fade age spots (depending on the depth of the peel which in turns determines your down time) and unlike lasers it will not remove facial hair. It will also tighten the skin and can be preventative against pre-cancers.

Stacey Tull, MD
Chesterfield Dermatologic Surgeon

Your best option is just not to treat your beard area

I treat many, many men in my offices. For those that don't want hair loss, we simply don't treat the beard area, or go much lighter on that area. Fraxel is more resurfacing and not what I would recommend for general skin discoloration and age spots. You need to discuss your concerns with a physician, and please make sure you do these treatments with a physician's supervision, but you can easily have effective IPL treatments without getting hair loss.

F. Victor Rueckl, MD
Las Vegas Dermatologist

Brown/Age spots removal without beard loss

IPL is exceptionally effective at removing brown pigmented lesions such as age spots, sun spots, freckles and Melasma as well as diffuse redness such as rosacea leaving clearer, younger looking skin. We treat many men here who mostly treat their upper half of their face. If you are concerned with permanent hair loss or patches, try one treatment, and see how your hair reacts. Some of my clients noticed a small reduction but nothing extremely noticeable after a month or so... more

Philip Young, MD
Bellevue Facial Plastic Surgeon

Laser Age Spot Removal w/out Losing Hair

Hello. While you are correct that some of these technologies can result in some hair loss, you will not lose your hair permanently from q-switched laser treatments. In addition, we find that most brown spots or age spots are not located in the beard line. They typically occur higher on the cheeks. Q-switched lasers are the gold standard for many different types of pigmented lesions including tattoos, birthmarks, sun spots, age spots and other pigmented or colored... more

Harold J. Kaplan, MD
Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

Ask a question

Get Free Email Updates