Your skin is like a canvas - everyday you have a new blotch or a mark on it.
As you grow up, age spots become your close companions, and there’s nothing much you can do about them. They act as reminders to care for your skin and protect it from the sun’s harmful rays. However, if these ageing spots start to look suspicious or if they start to resemble the signs of skin cancer, you must consult a dermatologist at the earliest.
What Are Age Spots?
Age spots, also known as liver spots or solar lentigines, are flat, brown, grey, or black patches that appear on the skin. They are most commonly found on sun-exposed areas like the face, hands, shoulders, and arms, and while they're harmless and don't develop into cancer, some people may choose to have them treated for cosmetic reasons.
Speaking with the OnlyMyHealth team, Dr Smriti Naswa Singh, Consultant Dermatologist and Cosmetic Dermatologist, Fortis Hospital, Mulund, shared that age spots can be of many types.
"While some look like raised small black lesions, which are called Dermatosis Papulosa Nigra, others are termed seborrhoeic keratoses, which are blotchy black and brown pigmented patches," she said, adding that others are called freckles, which are less than one cm of brown pigmented lesions.
According to the doctor, the cause of these age spots is both intrinsic and extrinsic ageing, which means that it can either occur as a part of the change in the skin with age or be determined by lifestyle factors like sun exposure, occupation, smoking, poor lifestyle with excess sugar, junk processed foods, lack of exercise, sleep, exercise, and alcohol addictions.
What Is Skin Cancer?
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), skin cancer is the most common type of cancer.
The main types of skin cancer are squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and melanoma.
Melanoma is the rarest form of skin cancer but the most dangerous type, as it is more likely to invade nearby tissue and spread to other parts of the body.
The NCI suggests that most deaths from skin cancer are caused by melanoma.
How To Differentiate Age Spots From Skin Cancer?
To differentiate between regular ageing spots and cancer spots, Dr Singh recommended using the below acronym:
A) Asymmetry
B) Border (uneven and notched, instead of soft and smooth like a mole)
C) Colour (multiple colours rather than brown)
D) Diameter (if more than 6 mm or 1/4 inch)
E) Evolving (any change in size, shape, colour, or elevation of a spot on your skin, or any new symptom in it, such as bleeding, itching, or crusting, may be a warning sign of melanoma)
Also Read: The Sun Paradox: Benefits Versus Risks Of Sun Exposure
These are the characteristics of skin damage that doctors look for when diagnosing and classifying melanomas.
As per Dr Singh, squamous cell carcinomas are patches with raised borders called 'Cauliflower Edges' or ulcerated lesions, whereas basal cell carcinoma is usually blackish in colour and sometimes appears ulcerated.
Bleeding is commonly found in the upper half of the face in cases of cancer.
Melanoma, while rare, is generally brownish in colour and mostly looks like moles.
The Final Word
Ignoring any type of skin change can be dangerous. While age spots are harmless, getting a second opinion on them from a dermatologist can rule out cancer indications. So, if you have a family history of skin cancer, a history of sunburns or unusual moles, or have recently developed new moles that continue to increase in size, it is important to get screened.