What are Freckles?

Freckles are just circular and flat spots that differ in the range and size. They can be very small or even sometimes big spots. These spots don’t follow a pattern and just happen randomly on the skin. They happen especially after prolonged exposure to sunlight especially in fair skinned people.
Freckles can be of many colors. They may be red, yellow, tan, light-brown, brown and black. They are darker than the complexion of the person. These are nothing but deposits of the dark pigment called melanin.

Kinds of freckles
There are two basic kinds of freckles one is called ephelides and the other lentigines:

• Ephelides :This is the flat spots that are red or light-brown in color. They usually appear during the sunny months and fade away in the winter. They are common among the people with light complexions. For some it is also considered a hereditary trait. This formation of freckles can be controlled with the regular use of sunscreen during the exposure to sun. This is the only natural way of controlling them. .
• Lentigines: This is usually found in the Children. This is a small tan, brown, or black spot that becomes darker than an ephelis-type freckle and which does not fade in the winter. This kind of a spot is called a lentigo simplex. It has been very rarely found that this syndrome is genetic. They are just harmless and isolated spots. .

How do freckles Form?
The sun and the tanning lights emit ultraviolet (UV) rays. When exposed to them, the upper layer of the skin called the epidermis thickens and the melanocytes, which are the pigment-producing cells, produce melanin at an increased rate. It does this as a natural protection against further exposure to sun.

Different people react differently when exposed to sunlight. People with less pigmentation react more sensitively to the sun. On the other hand, people with dark complexions are much less sensitive to sun exposure Even dark skinned people can get sun burned when they are exposed to the sunlight for very long. This doesn’t mean that they are resistant to the effects of the sun. The most effected are the people with blonde or red hair as they are the fairest skinned.

If you put aside the color of the skin, the reason freckles form is because of an uneven distribution of the melanin pigment in the skin. A freckle is nothing more than just a heavy deposit of melanin at one place in the skin.

How can freckles be treated?
Following are the most common methods of treating freckles:

• Bleaching creams can be used. The products containing hydroquinone and kojic acid and higher levels of hydroquinone is right for freckles. These products can be used to lighten freckles if they are applied continuously over a period of time.
• Tretinoin is sometimes used in combination with other bleaching creams, (vitamin A acid, Retin-A). This helps in lightening freckles when used over a period of time.
• Cryosurgery is the use of lightly freeze liquid nitrogen that can be used to treat freckles.
• Many laser treatment that produce a green light, are used to lighten and eliminate freckles effectively. This is considered as a very simple and safe procedure with high success rate and a very low risk of scarring.