They appear most commonly on the arms, face, and back of the hands. Age spots are caused by an increased number of pigment-producing cells in the skin. They are thought to occur in response to long-term sun damage and are associated with aging of the skin . They are not harmful and do not represent skin cancer.
Age spots are flat, brown areas of skin that can be up to an inch across.
They do not itch or cause any pain. The skin tends to get thinner with age. This causes older people to have pale, translucent skin. The number of pigment, or color-containing, cells decreases. The color-containing cells that are left tend to get bigger and group together as age spots.