About Sun Spot Lighteners

It's definitely the time of year when you might start to see sun spots. Some people call them age spots, which is silly because they don't really have much to do with age. They are an autoimmune response to the rays of the sun.  They are also called liver spots or brown spots.  They are caused by hyperpigmentation of the skin.  

Do you need age spot lightening cream or 'age spot corrector?' This may be dependent on how dark your age spots are. If they just look like freckles they might be attractive and give you a kind of outdoorsy sun-kissed look.  If they are irregularly shaped or very dark  then it might be time to put some kind of correcting cream on it. Usually find them in the sun-exposed areas of your body such as on your face and hands. Extra melanin, (the technical term for the pigment in skin) causes the discoloration. Age spot corrector creams and lotions  target these areas. 

However the best solution when it comes to developing sun spots is to practice prevention. To aovid skin discoloration, wear sunscreen and avoid direct sunlight especially between noon and 2 pm when the sun is at its strongest. This way your body will not be triggered to produce the melanin that discolors the skin in the first place.  Prevention is practical in this case as sunscreen is less expensive then the creams that are used to lighten the color of sun spots. Usually a  sun spot lightening cream  contains hydroquinone. This is the most effective of chemicals for bleaching the skin. However it can also caused irritations and scarring. 

One of the newer ingredients that is found in sun spot corrector creams and lotions is Kojic Acid. It is made from a rare type of fungi. Although it is slower acting it gentler on the skin that an application of hydroquinione. You will also find alpha-hydroxy acids in a high quality age spot corrector or age spot lightening cream. These acids are derived from milk or fruit that help gently remove your outer skin cells. Alpha-hydroxy acids also remove dead skin cells so that the other ingredients in the cream can penetrate more effectively. 

Creams and correctors can actually  make your sun spots worse if you decide to apply them and then go out in the sun. If you are in an active program of using these lotions and creams then you need to make sure that you are making use of sunscreen products at the same time.  This is because the alpha-hydroxy acids traumatize your skin and it may stimulate the immune system to produce more melanin. This can result in darker, more intense pigmentation that can only be removed by expensive dermabrasion or chemical peels that are done in a dermatologist's office. Keep in mind too that using spot lightening cream and age spot corrector is a temporary fix for these problems. Once you stop using these creams the problem comes back.

However continual use of these products along with a light but effective moisturizer with a high SPF level should help you against the UVB and UVA rays that cause these sometimes unattractive brown spots in the first place.

Parenting Tips
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Window Guards Save Kid’s Lives

 There have been too many new stories about children falling out of windows lately.  This of course is a great tragedy as it is so easy to install window guards and yet still hundreds of children take a tumble annually.  This type of terrible accident is more common than you think.

 In 2005, the United Stated Consumer Safety Commission reported that 732 children were hurt because they crawled out a window and then fell. Twelve of the children who fell died. This has also resulted in a greater number of lawsuits against landlords who have failed to install window guards. 

What is a window guard?  Window guards in effect prevent the child from opening the window. It is the equivalent of a childproof cap on a bottle of drugs.
Landlords should install window guards to prevent lawsuits. Unfortunately most property owners, especially the slumlord types find the installation of window guards to be too expensive and any laws do not enforce their installation. This is why if you are a parent who lives in an apartment building you still might want to pay for window guards even if you ethically feel that the landlord should pay for them.  Install them and then hand your landlord a bill. A window guard is not a complicated thing.  All it amounts to being is a frame of metal bars that can be fixes with screws to a windowpane. As an added bonus they also prevent small animals such as squirrels or even birds from getting in or out of your place as well. Window guards work the best when they are installed along with window stops. Window stops prevent the window from opening more than four inches.  A child simply cannot squeeze through the bars. This allows a lot of air to circulate through the apartment without letting small creatures in or out of the building.

Window stops are most commonly found as part of the fixtures on winding type window knobs. For even more safety, also make sure that all of your windows have screens. A window screen can easily be torn or popped out by the weight of a child’s or pet’s body. So make sure it is a durable heavy one of high quality. Furthermore, a window without a screen is more likely to tempt the curiosity of a child or a pet. However if you do decide to use window guards in your apartment it is not a good idea to put them on every single window. This is because at least one window should be used as an exit in case of fire. The one window in your place that should not have a window guard should be the one that leads to the fire escape.  You should keep this window closed. The latch or handle on this window should also be of the type of design that can make it difficult for a child's little hand to pry open.  Taking just a few of these precautions can help prevent some senseless tragedies from occurring.

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