How To Treat Freckles?

A freckle is an unusually heavy deposit of melanin at one spot in the skin. The color producing cells of the body, called melanocytes, become sensitive to sunlight and cause freckles. There is no permanent cure for freckles. Prevention is easier and should be adopted by anyone who freckles easily.

Prevention:

• Avoid sun when possible.
• Wear a good sunscreen lotion before you step out of the house. Even on a cloudy day, ultra violet rays of the sun reach earth and can harm your skin. Choose a sunscreen with spf of 20 or above.
• Wear large brimmed hats to avoid being hit by direct sunlight.

Available Treatments:

Bleaching Creams:

You can treat freckles with several over the counter and prescription bleaching creams. Most contain a bleaching agent hydro quinone. Other bleaching agents being used today are Retin-A (tretinoin) or combinations of medications such as hydroquinone with tretinoin plus a cortisone cream.

Risks associated with bleaching creams: Topical creams do not work for everyone. Over the counter bleaching creams are safe and may show results with couple of months. They may, however, lighten the skin around the freckle rather than the freckle itself. Your physician can prescribe more effective medications although they have side effects like redness, drying and peeling. You need to discuss the available options and risks with your physician.

Chemical Peels:

These can be superficial or deep peels, but in either case a physician needs to administer the treatment. Peels can lighten the freckles gradually and a superficial peel can be done in your lunch hour!

Risks associated with peels: Deeper peels are more dangerous than superficial peels, but superficial peels take longer to show results. A series of superficial peels can be an expensive affair.

Laser Resurfacing:

Freckles are burned off with laser with this treatment. The treatment has to be carried out by a physician and is very effective, often in one treatment.

Risks associated with laser resurfacing: The recovery time for laser treatment is one week and the experience can be painful with some redness and peeling. There could be scab formation as well. The treatment is costly but one treatment can last up to five years.

Intense Pulsed Light Therapy (IPL):

This is a new treatment that uses intense broadband light that delivers energy to superficial and deep layers of the skin. The skin is, however, not damaged in the treatment making the recovery time zero! The treatment can last a year with good sun protection.

Risks associated with IPL: Safer than laser, IPL is also less painful but may require multiple treatments unlike laser. It is cheaper than laser but more expensive than peels.

You need to discuss the treatments and their risks with your physician before opting for one.