McKeown Medical
167 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4SQ
Date posted — 19.05.25
Our skin tells a story as we age, sun-kissed summers, outdoor adventures, and years well-lived. But sometimes, that story includes age spots, those flat brown, grey, or black marks that tend to appear on the face, hands, and décolletage. While they are usually benign, they can make the skin look uneven and aged, depriving the skin of its youthful glow.
If you’re wondering how to treat age spots and restore a clearer, more radiant complexion, this article will walk you through the most effective options, especially the advantages of laser treatments, and how McKeown Medical can help you achieve the results you’re after.
Age spots, also known as liver spots or solar lentigines, are small, dark areas of pigmentation that develop on the skin due to prolonged sun exposure. They form when UV light accelerates the production of melanin, the pigment that gives our skin its colour. Over time, melanin can clump or be produced in higher concentrations, leading to visible spots.
These spots typically appear on sun-exposed areas such as:
While anyone can develop age spots, they’re more common in people over the age of 40 and in those with fair skin. Most of the time, they are benign, but if you notice a spot changing in appearance, becoming irregular, itchy, or bleeding, it’s important to consult a doctor to rule out skin cancer.
Prevention starts with protecting your skin from the sun. Even if you already have age spots, these steps can prevent new ones from forming and protect the results of any treatments you choose:
Taking care of your skin now means fewer visible signs of ageing down the line.
There is a range of topical treatments available over the counter or by prescription, including:
While some people may see mild fading over time, these products typically require months of consistent use, and the results are often limited. They don’t penetrate deeply enough to fully break down excess pigmentation, and many users find the effects disappointing, especially for stubborn or widespread age spots.
That’s where laser treatments come into their own.
If you’re looking for a faster, more noticeable improvement, laser treatments are one of the most effective and reliable solutions for eliminating age spots.
Why choose laser treatment over other options?
Compared to other medical treatments, such as cryosurgery (freezing the spot) or chemical peels (which exfoliate the top layer of skin), laser therapy offers:
At McKeown Medical, we offer two highly effective options for age spot removal:
BroadBand Light (BBL) therapy is an advanced form of intense pulsed light that targets pigmentation and redness. It is particularly effective for sun-induced age spots and also improves overall skin tone and texture. After treatment, pigment may darken for approximately one week before gradually fading.
One of the biggest benefits of BBL is that it typically involves little to no downtime, allowing patients to resume daily activities almost immediately. BBL is also often combined with injectable treatments for concerns such as fine lines or as part of a non-surgical mouth corner lift approach when volume loss or skin laxity contributes to a downturned appearance.
HALO is a hybrid fractional laser that combines ablative and non-ablative wavelengths to deeply rejuvenate the skin. It helps target pigmentation, sun damage, and fine lines, delivering comprehensive resurfacing. This is more invasive than BBL and typically has five days of redness and swelling afterwards. It’s better for patients who have larger individual patches of pigmentation or those who also want to improve the texture of their skin.
Both BBL and HALO treatments are fully customized to your skin type, concerns, and goals. All procedures are performed by experienced medical professionals who specialize in cosmetic dermatology, ensuring safe treatment and natural-looking results.
Most patients see visible improvement after just one session, with more dramatic results following a short course of treatment. Spots fade, skin tone becomes more even, and the complexion appears fresher and more youthful.
We believe in showing, not just telling. So, we invite you to view real results from our patients in our before-and-after gallery.
Age spots may be a common part of getting older, but that doesn’t mean you have to live with them. At McKeown Medical, our state-of-the-art laser treatments and expert clinicians are here to help you reclaim brighter, clearer, more confident skin.
Whether you’re just starting your journey or ready to take the next step, we’re here to guide you with care and expertise.
Looking to turn back time and get rid of your troublesome age spots? Book a consultation to talk to one of our specialists about what laser treatment options may be best for you to help achieve the results you want.
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Here’s another gorgeous upper blepharoplasty result from our phenomenal surgeon, @bramhallplasticsurgery.
This patient is 62 years old and came to us for upper eyelid surgery just 2.5 months ago. Russell performed the procedure while she was awake with just a few numbing injections. Here at the clinic we can offer facial surgery with local anaesthetic for those who want to remain awake, or with deep sedation for anyone who’d prefer to sleep throughout (without the downsides of general anaesthetic!)
Thank you to this patient for allowing us to share her fabulous result - her scars are already settling beautifully and will continue to fade over the next 12 months.
What do you think?
Our resident superstar breast surgery expert Dr Kavita was asked to talk about trends in breast surgery on BBC Radio Scotland today. This was Kavita’s first ever live interview and we thought she nailed it!
What do you think?
And this is why combination treatments always win!
This lovely patient is in her 50s and was noticing all of the classic signs of ageing. She was starting to see some jowls forming, the neck was becoming more saggy and she felt she was looking tired.
At this stage in the ageing process it is not one thing that is responsible for causing the tired expression, its a combination of changes that are working together which is why we need a combination of treatments to target it effectively.
We did some sofwave treatment first to tighten the skin on the face and neck. Sofwave is very effective at tightening the skin, but remember: the skin is only the outer layer of the face, so we supported the treatment with some volume replacement in the deeper layers.
I decided to post her selfie style before and afters as well as her clinical pictures so you can see how it looks in real life, as well as the clinical up-close detail. The patient is over the moon with her results.
What do you think?
Here is another beautifully balanced deep plane face and neck lift by the skilful @bramhallplasticsurgery.
The deep plane technique, as the name suggests, works at a deeper level, repositioning the underlying structures of the face and neck rather than simply tightening the skin. By addressing the deeper tissues, we can restore more natural proportions, refine the jawline, and create a smoother, more defined contour beneath the chin - especially when the patient moves or bends their neck forward.
To achieve this impressive improvement in the neck, even in flexion, Russell reduced the deep fat (from under the muscle), trimmed and shaped the salivary glands and reconstructed the muscles of the neck to create a rejuvenated result. This is a much more sophisticated procedure compared with a standard face and neck lift.
At just 2 months post-op, her result is already beautifully balanced. The jawline is sharper, the neck more sculpted, and everything sits in harmony with the rest of her features. Scars are settling well and will continue to soften over time.
She may choose to refine things further with laser resurfacing for skin quality and subtle volume restoration in the mid-face, but even at this stage, the transformation speaks for itself.
Thank you to our patient for allowing us to share her journey.
What do you think?
Thank you to this lovely patient for allowing us to share her beautiful result from the talented @bramhallplasticsurgery.
This patient is just 2.5 months after upper eyelid surgery, and already looking incredibly fresh and natural. The scars are settling very well and will continue to soften over the coming months.
The incisions are carefully placed within the natural eyelid crease, making them very difficult to see once healed. Excess skin has been removed to open up the eye area, while maintaining a soft, natural appearance.
A small amount of muscle was reduced at the outer part of the eyelid to address hooding, without affecting the central area. This helps preserve a youthful fullness above the eye. There has also been a conservative reduction of the lateral brow fat to further refine the contour. This highly tailored, bespoke approach to surgery is the attention to detail that lies at the heart of our clinic’s approach and philosophy.
As with many patients, her anatomy meant these changes developed earlier than expected. In the right cases, surgery at a younger age can deliver a subtle but very impactful improvement.
What do you think?
Happy Easter from our excited little bunnies 🐣🐰
Thank you to our lovely patient for allowing us to share these photos.
This is just 4 weeks after her first session (of three) with Juläine and we’re already starting to see a soft return of fullness and improvement in skin quality.
Juläine is not a traditional filler. It works by stimulating your body’s own collagen production, gradually restoring structure, firmness and elasticity from within.
This is just the beginning. As collagen continues to rebuild over the coming weeks and months, results will become more noticeable with improved support, smoother contours and a natural, refreshed appearance.
The patient is delighted with her progress so far. What do you think?
And this is why HA fillers have never gone out of fashion in our practice!
This lovely patient had all the classic signs of volume loss in her face and there is no other non-surgical treatment that can address this quite as quickly, effectively and non-invasively as HA filler. Of course, it needs to be carefully and sensitively applied.
This patient had a total of 10mls of HA as well as some wrinkle relaxing on the upper face. She is delighted with her restoration. What do you think?
Upper eyelid surgery isn’t just for ageing eyes! Some patients naturally have excess upper eyelid skin from a young age due to their anatomy, like this 29-year-old patient who had a congenital upper eyelid fold and recently underwent an upper blepharoplasty with the ever-talented @bramhallplasticsurgery.
The excess eyelid skin rested directly on her eyelashes, causing irritation and a persistent feeling of heaviness around the eyes which had been bothering her for several years. Upper eyelid surgery can address both functional symptoms and aesthetic concerns, helping patients achieve a lighter, more open eye appearance.
This patient is just 7 weeks after surgery. At this early stage of healing the scars are still maturing and in younger patients this process can take slightly longer. The incision is placed within the natural eyelid crease and as healing progresses the scar typically fades and becomes extremely difficult to see, often blending into the natural eyelid fold.
She`s delighted with the results so far, and we`re grateful to her for allowing us to share her results with you.
What do you think?