Hand Rejuvenation

Rejuvenation of the Hands

Human hands are highly visible. We extend our hands as a gesture of friendliness in order to form new friendships and acquaintances. Others can tell a lot by looking at our hands. For instance, the age of the individual can be estimated when looking at someone’s hand and while many people have cosmetic surgery to make their face look younger, their hands reveal their true age. With the hands looking years older than the facial features an obvious tell-tale sign that someone has had facial rejuvenation will be noticed by the average individual. For those who are concerned about the appearance of their hands, there are steps that can help prevent and more importantly reverse the signs of aging.

Prevention is one of the keys to younger-looking hands. Sun block agents are critically important in preventing sun spots, premature wrinkles and skin cancer. Because the hands are an expressive part of our bodies, we use them to communicate, nurture and create. Our hands are on display and exposed to the external environment quite often. Additionally, as we age there is loss of volume and atrophy of the soft tissues of the hand. In particular, the back of the hand can become quite bony and skeletonized, resulting in an aged and wasted appearance. As a result, there is a strong demand for procedures that reduce the signs of aging in the hands.

Structural fat grafting is an elegant way to restore the missing volume of aging hands. For patients with advanced signs of aging in the hands, fat grafting is a critical step in hand rejuvenation. Because of aging, the hands experience loss of volume, especially in the back of the hand which is hard to prevent. Structural fat grafting, utilizes fat from other parts of the body and places it into the back of the hands (usually in one session). The technique restores the volume lost with age and fills out the grooves between the tendons. It is important that this procedure be done by a qualified plastic surgeon with a thorough understanding of the anatomy of the hands. All board-certified plastic surgeons obtain rigorous training in surgery, anatomy and physiology of the hand and therefore are uniquely qualified to perform this procedure.

Other cumulative effects of aging, sun and environmental exposure often results in brown spots, uneven pigmentation, skin cancers, thinning skin, and prominent veins. As women enter menopause, dropping levels of estrogen contribute further to thinning and drying of the skin. There is no procedure or combination of procedures that can address all the damage that occurs to the hands. However, if the volume has been restored to the hands with fat grafting, then we recommend Intense Pulsed Light^TM (IPL) which can reduce the signs of aging and discoloration in the hands and stimulate the skin for a collagen-producing effect. Benefits of treatment include improvement in skin appearance, texture and dermal thickness.