A 22-year-old college student, who is an outdoors sports enthusiast, said he had seemingly enlarged facial freckles after traveling to Kenting last summer.
It was later diagnosed as solar lentigo.
The case was cited by Yuan’s General Hospital dermatologist Liu Chao-hung (劉昭宏), who said solar lentigo, also known as age spots, is a collective name for reticulated seborrheic keratosis, benign lichenoid keratosis, pigmented actinic keratosis, sunburn freckles and lentigo maligna, among other skin problems.
Photo courtesy of Yuan’s General Hospital
Solar lentigo results from skin aging and cumulative ultraviolet (UV) exposure, rather than enlarged freckles or virus infection, he said.
Age spots are not exclusive to elderly people and have become more common among people in their 20s, Liu said, adding that they remain most prevalent among people aged 40 and older.
The development of age spots depends on age, physical predisposition and damage from UV exposure, Liu said.
He also called on the public not to believe in advertisements or buy skin care drugs or products to remove age spots.
They can only be treated by laser or therapies such as cryotherapy, electrocauterization and alpha hydroxy acid peeling, Liu said.
The treatment is contingent on the location, number and size of the spots, as well as the personal habits of the affected person, Liu said, adding that laser therapy is recommended, as it selectively disrupts age spots without damaging the surrounding skin tissue and is less likely to leave scars.
Age spots are speckle-shaped at the initial stage, which would gradually turn from brown to black, with sizes ranging from several millimeters to several centimeters, he said.
They are mainly found on body parts prone to sun exposure, such as the face, back of the hand, forearms and chest, he added.
Most age spots are benign patches with clear boundaries and only very few would require a differential diagnosis to distinguish them from malignant melanoma (a type of skin cancer), Liu said.
People should go to the hospital for a biopsy to check for cancer if there is irregular diffusion, localized thickening or localized color change in their age spots, he said.
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