As soon as the sun shines, they come out: Not flowers are meant, but freckles. However, these in itself harmless skin pigmentations also have a warning function – whoever has them should protect his skin from the sun, because they are a sign of particularly light-sensitive skin.
What are freckles?
Freckles are pigment spots in the top layer of the skin. They are caused by a genetic defect that results in pigment not being evenly distributed in the skin cells. Normally, the pigment melanin is produced by certain skin cells called melanocytes in response to sun or UV radiation. It is released into the surrounding cells, serving to protect the skin from sun exposure. The more sunlight (or UV radiation in a solarium) affects the melanocytes, the more melanin they produce and the stronger the skin pigmentation becomes. It is not so much the number of diligent melanocytes that is important for skin color, but rather the amount of pigment stored per cell. Light-skinned people have about 50 pigment stores per cell, dark-skinned Africans 500.
Who has freckles?
Mostly freckles appear on people with fair skin, blond or reddish hair – that is, the light-sensitive skin type. They are found on the body mainly in the places that are not protected from sunlight by clothing, for example.
- On the face
- On the forearms and hands
- On the shoulders
This skin type often also has an increased appearance of moles.
Freckle or mole?
The differentiation of a strongly colored freckle from a mole can sometimes be difficult, but is especially important for larger pigment spots that itch, bleed or have an irregular edge. Here, an experienced dermatologist should check whether this pigment change does not become a malignant skin tumor.
Freckles in pregnancy
During pregnancy, freckles and other pigment spots can become more prominent due to the change in hormone concentration. In most cases, however, this “extra” pigment recedes after pregnancy.
Why do freckles disappear in winter?
Since the color of freckles depends strongly on the light intensity, they often become much lighter in the winter time and thus invisible to the naked eye. However, the same applies in winter: When skiing or doing other outdoor recreational activities, you should protect your skin from too much sunlight. The snow reflects the sun’s rays and the skin has to process a similar amount of sun as on a hot summer day. If you spend a lot of time outside in the winter, freckles will also increase in intensity again. Even glass does not protect against UV radiation: people whose desk is by the window and who sit in the office during the day, but in the sun, can observe a darkening of their freckles.
What can be done about freckles?
Those who have freckles and do not like them often wonder how to get rid of them. If you are prone to freckles, the main thing you should do is avoid direct sunlight. If you use a sunscreen with a high sun protection factor and rarely expose the vulnerable areas to the sun unclothed, your freckles will darken only slightly during the hot season. After all, strong sunlight generally affects the skin – it leads to faster skin aging and increases the risk of skin cancer. Therefore, not only people with light, light-sensitive skin types should observe this rule of conduct. Although the color of freckles can be lightened in the short term with various bleaching creams, stronger peels or cold treatment, they cannot be permanently removed in this way.
Removing freckles with laser
Laser treatment destroys the pigments and pigment cells of the upper layer of the skin in several therapy sessions. It is a medium-term effective method to remove freckles. However, after some time new melanocytes and new pigments are formed, so even this treatment is only successful if you also avoid further exposure to the sun. Laser treatment is not paid by health insurance companies, depending on the severity of freckles, several treatment sessions are necessary, each of which costs between 100 and 300 euros.
Freckles are beautiful!
It’s best to keep it with the Irish folk wisdom “A girl without freckles is like a sky without stars”, feel comfortable with Pippi Longstocking, Robert Redford, Boris Becker and Charlize Theron among prominent freckle wearers and try to gain something positive from the cheeky, cheerful dots. After all, many people find freckles pretty. Some even want to get freckles themselves so much that they get them made up or tattooed.
