Your skin creates melanin, the brown pigment that produces normal skin color. Various environmental and medical factors can be attributed to abnormal melanin production, resulting in deposits on the skin that cause spots and blemishes. These can vary from harmless freckles to serious skin disorders and can be caused by a variety of conditions.
Medications
Photo-sensitizing medications, like acne medicines, antibiotics, antihistamines and oral contraceptives, can cause increased sensitivity to the sun, resulting in sunburn damage and skin blemishes. Melasma, often a problem for women taking birth control pills or hormones, is a condition in which dark, spotty patches appear on the face.
Sun Exposure
Long periods of exposure to the sun, without protection, can produce skin discolorations ranging from benign freckles to malignant melanoma. Moles are potentially dangerous, carrying a risk of skin cancer. If you see changes in a mole, consult your doctor. Localized increase of pigments, called liver spots, are harmless flat brown discolorations on the hands and face, the result of sun exposure. Over-the counter treatments bleach affected skin but subsequent sun exposure can result in the reappearance of blemishes.
Injury
Cuts, injuries, insect bites, burns, acne and scars can cause hyperpigmentation, or darker areas of skin, with lasting damage. Red spots on the skin can be symptomatic of inflamed hair follicles or clogged pores. Razor bumps are tiny abrasions that develop after shaving. The sharp edge of closely shaven hair can curl back and grow into the skin, causing irritation, pimples and even scarring.
Allergic Reactions
Allergens are substances that the immune system recognizes as foreign or dangerous. Exposure to toxins or irritants can cause skin reactions, which may result in spots, blemishes and rashes, symptoms of various conditions. Hives result when histamine is released by cells under your skin in response to an allergen. Hives look like welts and are often itchy, stinging, or burning. Antihistamines or steroids may provide some relief. Hypersensitivity can cause shingles, a burning, tingling rash of raised dots that often develop into painful blisters. Common allergens, like soap, can trigger eczema, an inflamed red, dry and itchy skin condition. Psoriasis is a complex disorder involving immune attacks in skin with chronic inflammation, usually affecting the scalp, elbows, knees, and lower back. Skin inflammation can result from contact with poisonous plants, like poison ivy, oak, and sumac. The itchy rash can blister and require cortisone or antibiotics. Contact dermatitis results from contact with a particular substance or reaction to a drug. It presents in many forms, like eczema, and the result is a red, itchy rash.
Treatments
A variety of over-the-counter topical solutions claims to lighten spots. Prescription bleaching cream, like Hydroquinolone cream, is most effective in fading spots. Treatments to remove discolored areas of skin include laser surgery, chemical peels, freezing, and microderm abrasion. These procedures can be expensive, requiring multiple treatments and extensive recovery times.
Considerations
You should have any unusual skin blemishes evaluated by a medical professional. Some skin cancers go untreated because they are mistaken for age spots, freckles, or moles.
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