GB News recently asked Dr. Frank Agullo for the single most important habit to slow hand aging. His answer was sunscreen, applied every morning and reapplied after washing. It’s the right answer, and it’s also just the first of four steps our MedSpa team builds a full protocol around.
Here’s the full routine, why hands age faster than most patients expect, and where our team’s in-office tools pick up where a home routine leaves off.
Why Hands Age Ahead of the Face
The skin on the back of the hand is thinner than facial skin, the fat pad underneath is smaller, and hands accumulate more raw sun exposure over a lifetime than faces do. Most patients have worn a facial sunscreen for years. Very few extend that habit past the wrist.
We then notice brown spots and thin, crepey texture on the skin of their hands appearing much earlier than on the rest of their body and much sooner than on their face. It occurs from all sun exposure over a lifetime on less “padded” areas.
Step One: Daily Sun Protection
Use of broad-spectrum sunscreen on the backs of the hands (minimum SPF 30, reapplied after washing the hands because of soap) has the highest impact of any habit I have observed for longevity. Apply it each morning.
Most brown spots that patients complain about and the crepey texture that we address result directly from sun exposure. This prevents most everything we deal with, all on its own.
The Full Protocol
| Step | What we recommend | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Protect | Broad-spectrum SPF 30+, reapplied after every hand wash | Prevents most new sun-driven damage |
| 2. Repair | A thick cream with ceramides, glycerin, and hyaluronic acid after every wash | Rebuilds the moisture barrier that soap and sun damage |
| 3. Rebuild | A retinoid, two to three nights a week | Builds collagen, smooths texture, softens crepey appearance over time |
| 4. Fade | Vitamin C and niacinamide topicals | Gradually fades existing spots and helps prevent new ones |
Our team counsels patients to expect eight to twelve weeks of consistent retinoid and vitamin C use, two to three times a week, before seeing a meaningful change. Skin does not respond overnight, and setting that expectation upfront keeps patients on a routine long enough for it to actually work.
When the MedSpa Team Steps In
A solid home routine handles prevention reasonably and helps greatly with early color and textural alterations; however, there will be limitations.
If the pigment has gotten deeper, crepey and your topical regimen has not done the trick, then our Med Spa and Laser team can help. Things like IPL, chemical peels, microneedling and laser resurfacing are much more efficient than any topical at correcting issues that go below the uppermost skin. If you are showing more tendons, veins or bone due to volume loss, you do not have a quality issue. Your solution would be with something like filler. A filler along with the proper use of a biostimulator is what our hand rejuvenation program recommends for people who have volume loss problems.
The Practice’s Approach
Southwest Plastic Surgery’s philosophy on hand aging mirrors its philosophy on facial aging: identify the actual driver, sun damage, barrier breakdown, collagen loss, or lost volume, before recommending a product or a procedure. Dr. Agullo, who completed his plastic surgery fellowship at Mayo Clinic and serves as Clinical Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, built the practice’s MedSpa protocols around that same structural logic.
Why Patients Choose Southwest Plastic Surgery
Roughly sixty percent of the practice’s current patients travel from outside El Paso for care built on published pricing and a straightforward recommendation, whether that recommendation is a fifteen-dollar tube of sunscreen or an in-office laser session.
Ready to Start?
Our team will assess your hands the same way we’d assess a face: what’s driving the appearance, and what actually fixes it.
Call (915) 590-7900, text 1-866-814-0038, or book online at agulloplasticsurgery.com/appointments. #StayBeautiful.
@RealDrWorldWide on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat, @Agullo on X, or @AgulloPlasticSurgery on Facebook.
Cross-links
- Editorial version on drworldwide.com: “Sunscreen, Not Syringes: What Actually Slows Hand Aging” (link once live)
- Patient-facing version on agulloplasticsurgery.com: “The Hand Routine I Actually Recommend Before Filler” (link once live)
- Companion post: Hand rejuvenation (SWPS): https://www.swplasticsurgery.com/hand-rejuvenation-southwest-plastic-surgery/
- Source: GB News, “How to look younger: Doctor shares the ‘single most important habit’ to slow ageing on your hands,” Sarra Gray, July 20, 2026. https://www.gbnews.com/lifestyle/spf-how-to-look-younger-hands
