Sun Spots

When is a freckle not a freckle? When it does not go away! Freckles are temporary brown flat spots that completely disappear when you are no longer in the sun. Persistent brown spots are called solar lentigos and are a sign of sun damage not cuteness. A recent study has shown that solar lentigos are due to a specific mutation within the skin cell due to cumulative ultraviolet radiation damage. Although the mutation does not appear to be linked with cancer, it is a sign of sun damage. Individuals with many solar lentigos are at increased risk for skin cancer because it is a sign that there is probably other subclinical cellular damage within the skin that just hasn't yet become clinically obvious. These flat brown spots over time will become raised bumps and often can be warty in appearance. Besides being unattractive, they can itch or become tender when rubbing on clothing. Scratching can lead to the lesions becoming infected andpossibly scarring.

Intense pulsed light (IPL) is an excellent treatment for removing solar lentigos before they become raised and also to improve the health of the sun damaged skin. The treatment involves shining special wavelengths of light that are chosen to be absorbed by the pigment in these spots. The heat from the light causes the pigment to crust. In 10-14 days, the spots will flake off.

Generally, 4-7 photo-rejuvenation treatments are needed for improvement and are performed about every 3-4 weeks. There is an added bonus of collagen tightening that also occurs with IPL. If you decide to seek treatment when the spots become raised, IPL is not effective at this stage and each individual lesion will require freezing in order to be removed.