motd Sunday Feb 12, 2012

[Guest guest]

CONNECT THE DOTS

Sunday, 12 February 2012

I'm sure all of us knew kids back in grade

school who had freckles. Sometimes they got teased by

their classmates because of their freckles. Me? I

never got teased for freckles because I never had

any. But boy, did I ever get teased about my weight.

(Hey, that's another story.)

As I've gotten older, I've

uh, "spotted" something on my body...age spots!

Anyway, as I've gotten older, I've uh, "spotted"

something else on my body...age spots! Where did those come from?!

I'm telling you, every time I take a bath or shower, I

seem to discover a new one. Some people call them age

spots but the medical term is liver

spots.

Age spots begin to appear on our skin as we pass age

40 and you may see more of them as you grow older.

I'll be honest and admit I've tried a few things to

remove them from my skin. Oh, I tried this cream or

that lotion. The age spots may lighten up some but

they didn't go away completely. So I had an idea.

One morning, before I went down to the office to begin

answering E-mail, I took one of my felt tip pens, (the

ones I use to autograph my photos with), and headed

for my bathroom mirror. And you know what I did?

Well, I took that pen and begin connecting the

dots...I mean the

age spots on

my face. It took me a couples minutes, (I was being

very neat). Well, when I got done, I stood back from

the mirror and took a good look at myself. And,

lo-and-behold, my little connecting the dots exercise

had spelled out the words...Hey, Cutie, right

there on my face! (Complete with an exclamation

point...LOL!)

Age spots are usually

harmless and don't require medical care.

Okay, there's a lesson to my story. Age spots or

liver spots, (which ever you choose to call them), are

usually harmless and don't require medical care. The

only exception is when you notice a change in the

appearance of your liver spots. If you notice them

becoming darker, please see your doctor. It may be

nothing at all but it could also be a sign of skin

cancer. The important thing is this; don't ignore

any changes in the appearance of your skin's liver

spots.

They're re usually brown, black or gray and occur on

those areas of your skin where you get the most sun

exposure. Age spots can be lightened with skin

bleaching products or even surgically removed. But

the best way to avoid them in the first place is to

stay out of the sun too much. And if you have to be

outdoors in the sun a lot, be sure to use a good sun

screen.

I'm not going to worry so

much about my own age spots anymore.

As for me, I'm not going to worry so much about my own

age spots anymore. In fact, I see them as a sign of

maturity, wisdom and experience. And, after

connecting the dots, I mean the spots on my

face, I've discovered that I can have my age spots

and...still be cute, too!

Love,