A series of freckles, liver spots, or brown spots have been reducing in size, or effectively falling off and being replaced with more normal-looking tissue.
The old spots are raised, and get itchy. So after a bit of semi-conscious scratching I’m barely aware of, they come apart, and are replaced by a small red dot that looks like a small bug bite that’s exposing a drop of blood. When they heal, the new spots are still pigmented, but are more of a reddish tan than a dark brown, and they’re flush with the skin. And over time, those spots tend to integrate nicely with the surrounding skin, so the area becomes uniform in color.
There are several possible causes that could have produced the healing. Or perhaps it was combination of several.
- Cycling.
Have gotten out for a relaxed pedal a few times. Increased blood flow has improved the healing of skin lesions before. After a run, I once notice that a small cut had been filled in with bright red tissue. It could be that cycling produced a similar result for the small brown spots that are, in some sense, skin lesions. - MSM Lotion.
Shoulder muscles and thigh muscles have needed healing recently, so I’ve been putting on a lot of MSM lotion to help. As the only bio-available form of sulphur, MSM gives the body the ingredient it needs to produce flexible tissue, in place of scar tissue. It is possible that liver spots are, to some degree, a form of scar tissue that are replaced by better tissues when sufficient sulfur is available. - Increased Vitamin C.
Several evenings, I’ve had a glass of water with a tsp of Vitamin C powder, plus lemon juice. Vitamin C is used to build all kinds of tissues in the body (which makes it more of a “macro-nutrient” than a “vitamin”). The increased levels of Vitamin C could have played a role in the skin healing. - Lots of sleep.
I took off last week. Was totally out of it. Got lots of sleep though, which promotes healing. - Cut out caffeine.
Have been caffeine-free for 5 days now. Interestingly, I only noticed low-caffeine headaches the start of the third day. So apparently I had an over-abundance in my system — to the point that I must have been running on fumes. Between the extra sleep and the lack of caffeine, I played much better pool in my weekly league, so the experiment has been good, so far. The reduced caffeine has also lowered cortisol levels, making it easier to lose weight. If cortisol plays a role in liver spots, then perhaps the caffeine reduction had an effect. - Better diet.
Have reduced meat-eating considerably, and have discovered refried beans in the Mexican food section. They digest better than normal beans, so my food intake has reduced considerably. Add some salsa, maybe some corn, and top with grated Romano. Awesome. And filling. Eating less in general has also reduced my sugar intake. If sugar plays any kind of role in liver spots, that could be a factor.
If I had to bet, I’d say it was mostly the first 3 items — more MSM and Vitamin C, plus aerobic exercise that increases blood flow to the skin. But the other factors might be playing a role, as well — so I’m mentioning them, just in case.
Copyright © 2017, TreeLight PenWorks
