A helping hand for our aging mitts

These days, a face can be an ageless mystery. Botox smooths wrinkles and collagen gives sagging skin the lovely plump of youth.

But hands tell the truth even when the face lies. Blotchy brown age spots, bulbous veins and paper-thin, crinkly skin shatter the secret of one's years as surely as a tabloid gossip.

Each year, millions of Americans receive youth-seeking injections. But Austin says few clients seem concerned about their hands.

They should be, according to dermatologist Eric Hanson of Portland. "Hands get a lifetime cumulative exposure to ultraviolet rays, more than other places on the body," he says. "But there are simple things people can do."

Here are Hanson's hand-care tips for those motivated by vanity, health or both.

Why hands age: Besides our face, hands are the part of our bodies that receive the most year-round sun exposure. Photoaging comes from UVA, which is always present during daytime even when it's cloudy (and is different from cancer-causing UVB). Hands are nearly always uncovered.

How to slow signs of aging: It's pretty basic. Use sunscreen on your hands, often. Find what's called a broad-spectrum sunscreen made with titanium, zinc or mexoryl because they block UVA. Remember that sunscreen comes off each time you wash your hands.

Moisturize, often. Hanson says nothing's worse for looking old than very dry hands. Youthful-looking hands need moisture.

Don't smoke. It ages even hands significantly.

Tap into your inner aristocrat and don some driving gloves. UVA rays penetrate windshields and fry our hands as they rest atop the steering wheel.

What if it's too late for prevention? Buy an over-the-counter retinol cream, or get a prescription retinoid. Retinoids are more potent and will lighten sunspots, help collagen regenerate and improve the skin's texture.

Try alpha hydroxy acids or a glycolic acid.

Get pulse-light or laser treatments to remove age spots and smooth skin. This usually requires two or three treatments at a cost of $200 to $300 a pop.

Spring for the same injections you're getting in your face. Fillers such as Radiesse or Restalyne will smooth wrinkles. But they're pricey: Each vial costs about $1,000, and it takes one or two vials per hand.

Continue using sunblock and retinoids.

Not vain, so why worry? Because hands get so much sun exposure, they're also a common place for skin cancers. Hanson recommends that anyone concerned about aging hands consult a skin specialist to make sure nothing serious is going on.