My great aunt developed this problem severely but only in the few years preceding her death at an advanced age (98). That is not only the blotchiness, but much thinned, easily torn skin.

I am almost 77 and have scarcely any "sun spots and no fragility. I attribute this to avoidance of sun exposure (tans be damned!) and daily application of moisterizing cream (all over my body) after my morning shower. I rub it in a bit too.

Even the sun-exposed parts of my arms are almost exempt and the few discolorations on my face are remediable by cosmetic dermatologists (by lasers, for example).

I'm not bragging, as except for the laser treatment, there seems to be little to make them go away - just repeating a frequent warning to avoid sun exposure, at least, not without a good sun screen. (UV light also damages eyesight - I hate to think what would have become of my light colored eyes if I had been more sun exposed, as I already am gradually going blind from macular degeneration.)

The only useful advice I have for those of you who've already developed "age spots" is to start now to avoid the sun, or at least, to do avoid it at broad day and never without a good sun screen and ideally both a sun hat and loose clothing over your otherwise exposed area. In the "better late than never" spirit, also, moisterize your skin as much as possible frequently throughout the day - your hands most of all, especially with the frenzy of hand washing we have all been advised to engage in thanks to Covid.

I was shocked to see a friend recently - one I hadn't seen for the COVID years - and in that time, she had become blotchy all over with cafe au lait spots, and markedly wrinkled skin on her exposed upper chest, face and arms. She's almost 15 years younger than me.

She's fortunate to have young grandchildren to walk to and from school, as well as parks and others (I have none) but she has paid a heavy price cosmetically. If only she had at least applied high quality (ELTA is one) sun screen - both a UV blocker and moisterizer.

My only complaint is that my hands alone look almost dessicated from lost fatty covering which has for a long time made me look markedly older if they are expose. I attribute that to hitching around Europe when I was young, carrying my bags over my wrists which lifted them and forced my blood flow below the straps. In effect, I've developed severe varicosities over my hands along with losing all the fat. (And most lately, since I've begun lifting weights for upper body strength - which I sorely need - I'm developing varicosities on my forearms. It's a trade-off).

Nothing to be done! I can see why Victorian ladies carried parasols and wore gloves to preserve their youthful skin, though they didn't subject themselves to the unfortunate weight lifting at the wrists I did. (Ignorant youth!)