Freckles do matter

I recalled an incident about 7 years ago, when I was still serving in the OPD of Hospital Pulau Pinang. A distressed patient came seeking help regarding pigmentations on her face. 

“It’s just freckles!” I told her. 

“This will not harm you.”  What I meant was that the condition was not a disease that will risk her life.

“But it affects me!! People are always staring at them when they are talking to me,” answered the patient.

Yes, the thing that bothered her was not an issue or was it important to me. However, the question still remained - how to help her resolve her problems?
I referred her to the dermatology clinic and did not hear from her since then.

So, what are freckles?

These are small, brown or tan-colored patches on people with fair skin.
Freckles can develop as a result of a combination of genetics and sun exposure. These exposures  will then cause an uneven distribution of melanin in the skin. It is essentially nothing more than an unusually heavy deposit of melanin in one area of the skin.
Common freckles hot spots: Sun exposed areas such as the face, hands, chest and back. They are usually uniform in color, some may appear to be reddish, yellow, tan, light brown, brown, or black, but they are basically slightly darker than the surrounding skin.






by 
Anna Hoo