Brown Spots

What Are These Brown Spots on My Face?

Brown spots are benign skin growths that come in many variations ranging from flat brown liver or age spots (lentigo) to raised rough plaques over the chest and back (seborrheic keratosis). You may find them starting out as light brown oval spots that may evolve into thicker rough spots. Seborrheic Keratosis (SK's) range from a few spots to several dozens, often depending on one's genetics. Brown spots often increase as we age. Some may be irritated or even painful especially with clothing friction.

Other brown spots include larger brown patches around the cheeks and side of the face in areas commonly exposed to the sun called (melasma). These persistent brown pigmented patches are difficult to treat and extremely sensitive to the sun and hormonal fluctuations particularly during pregnancy.

​Are My Brown Spots Dangerous?  

First, you need to go see your dermatologist to make sure what you have is indeed a benign brown spot rather than a subtly growing melanoma. According to the American Cancer Society, melanomas are responsible for almost 8000 Americans deaths per year, not to mention how many disfiguring surgeries and total number of lives impacted. To the untrained eye, a harmless appearing brown spot may be easily mistaken for nodular melanoma, which can mean the difference between life and death.

How Can I Treat My Seborrheic Keratosis?

Common treatment options for inflamed seborrheic keratosis include:

-Liquid nitrogen cryotherapy/cryosurgery

-Curettage after numbing with local anesthesia (lidocaine, similar to the one used at dental offices)

-Physical destruction of the unwanted irritating brown spots with electrocauterization (painless after numbing)

-Topical products - DO NOT work for treating seborrheic keratosis

-How Can I Treat My Lentigo?

-Common treatment options include:

-strict sun protection

- topical creams (retinoids and whitening agents)

- liquid nitrogen cryotherapy/cryosurgery

- chemical peels

- lasers

- intense pulsed lightand microdermabrasion.

These treatments are not medically necessary treatments and will be considered cosmetics. The products do not work for lentigo or liver spots.

How Can I Treat My Melasma?

Common treatment options include:

- strict sun protection

-topical creams (retinoids and whitening agents)

- liquid nitrogen cryotherapy/cryosurgery

- chemical peels

- lasers

- intense pulsed light and microdermabrasion. These treatments are not medically necessary treatments and will be considered cosmetics.

Other than sunscreen, all other products do not work for treating melasma. Over the counter hydroquinone 2% is generally too weak by itself to have any significant clinical effect on treating melasma..

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