What is a freckle and what causes them?

Laser Freckle removal

Freckles are known as ‘sun kisses’ for good reason. Exposure to sunlight is one cause of the appearance of freckles, due to the sun’s action on melanin, a dark pigment in the skin. Freckles are inherited too and those with the chromosome 4q32-q34 will have freckles, just like their parents or siblings.

Freckles appear as circular spots on the skin, darker in colour than the skin around them. They can range in colour from almost yellow, to black. Most are in the mid range of light to dark tan coloured.

There are two types of freckle:

• Ephelides freckles are ones that emerge during the summer, when the skin is exposed to sunlight. These freckles are light brown, and they will fade in winter.

• Lentigine freckles are much darker coloured, and do not disappear when the sun goes in.

The types of freckle we treat most often are Lentigine freckles. Whilst some people love their freckles – and many people see them as highly attractive – others want to remove them. Treatment with high-tech lasers can be highly effective, reducing or eliminating freckles and leaving a smoother, clearer skin surface. If you have freckles that you want to remove, then laser treatments offer the best results in our experience.