1. Freckles Aren't Angel Kisses
Your mom may have told you that freckles are angle kisses, but they are actually signs of damage to the skin. The cells that create melanin pigment in your skin, melanocytes, normally help create a protective layer in the skin to protect it from the sun. When the sun damages these cells, melanin gravitates to one small area and the result is a freckle. People with fair skin are more likely to develop freckles.
2. Spot the Difference
Freckles occur in two different types. Ephelides look like typical freckles but only occur in the sunny summer months and then diminish in the cloudy winter months. They are red or light brown in color. Lentigines also develop in the sunny months but don't fade in the winter. These spots, called lentigo simplex, are tan, brown or even black in color but are no more serious than any other freckles.
3. Fight the Freckle
The best way to prevent freckles from occurring in the first place is to avoid sun exposure. If you have to be out in the sun, wear sunscreen to help prevent the sun's rays from damaging your skin and creating freckles. Freckles are hereditary, so if you come from a "freckley" family, it's very important to take these precautions if you want to avoid these spots.
4. Spot Removal
Doctors can remove freckles in a number of different ways. They can prescribe various bleaching creams that fade the appearance of freckles when used over time. These creams bleach any skin they touch, so while freckles will fade, so will the surrounding skin, leaving the same discoloration you originally had. Retin-A creams work by healing pigmentation. This is a way to get rid of freckles without changing the color of surrounding skin, but it can also irritate the skin. Cryosurgery is another option that freezes liquid nitrogen onto skin abnormalities, but is not a common method for the removal small freckles. Laser treatment is probably the most effective method used to remove freckles, but it can be expensive.
5. A Freckle by Any Other Name
How do you know if you have a freckle, a mole, or an age or liver spot? Freckles are small flat spots on the skin and are usually red, tan or brown in color, and develop over time on sun-exposed parts of your body. Age spots or liver spots are really just old freckles and have nothing to do with your age or liver. Moles may be flat or raised and can be any color. They occur on any part of the body regardless of sun-exposure. Freckles don't normally turn into skin cancer but you should pay attention to any skin abnormalities that change in color or size, and consult a doctor should this occur.
