Freckles
Freckles or brown spots are very common in fair skin people.
These small brown pigmented spots are seen more commonly on face. Freckles are commonly seen on the sun exposed areas of our body and often increases after unprotected sun-exposure especially during summers.
Freckles are also seen in people having familial tendencies to develop freckles.
What are the causes of Freckles?
Freckles are visible on the skin due to accumulation of melanin pigment in skin cells called as keratinocytes.
Excess melanin production is triggered by exposure to UV light, sunrays which stimulate formation of more pigment inside the skin. Freckles usually looks lighter in winters and gets darker in summers due to intense sunlight.
What is the best treatment to remove freckles?
Use of broad-spectrum sunscreen [SPF]-
This is the mainstay of treatment for reducing freckles. A fair skin has less melanin pigment and hence tend to get more sensitive towards getting pigmentation even after slightest unprotected sun exposure. Use of broad-spectrum medicated sunscreen even indoors is recommended to avoid freckles.
Chemical Peels– Chemical peels are various fruit base peels which has exfoliating agents which helps to exfoliate the dead layer of your skin. This helps to reduce freckle pigment from upper layer of your skin.
Skin Lightening Creams- Certain skin lightening creams containing kojic acid, Vitamin C, Azelaic acid, Arbutin also helps to reduce the freckles to some extent.
Laser treatment for removing freckles- Fractional Q switched Nd yag Laser is one of the good treatments to treat freckles. This laser treatment targets melanin pigment inside the skin and evenly distribute it throughout the skin. This helps to reduce the freckles to a great extent. A long-term care and maintainace is required to maintain the results.
