Treatments For Freckles

How the Ancient Do it?

Efforts to diminish the appearance of freckles go back centuries. Ancient Egyptians used oil of fenugreek to fade freckles and age spots.

The Modern Approach

In more modern cultures, lemon juice was a favorite home remedy. All of that gave way to modern cosmetics and bleaching agents, none of which have been overly effective. More advanced techniques including freezing, chemical peels, dermabrasion and laser resurfacing may get rid of freckles and age spots, but such treatments can be painful, and they may damage healthy skin or cause scarring.

Conventional Modern Approaches: Concealing Vs Bleaching

Conventional treatments for freckles include cosmetic cover-ups and bleaching creams, neither of which have garnered satisfactory results.

Heavy cosmetics need frequent touchups, and are not a good fit for today’s active lifestyles.

Bleaching agents attempt to fade the freckles to a color approximating that of the surrounding skin. However, they can sometimes lighten or darken the skin surrounding the freckles, calling even more attention to the spots.

Occassionally, bleaching agents cause rashes or chemical burns.

Some people have had success using alpha hydroxy acids on a regular basis, combined with sun avoidance and the use of sunblock. Some dermatologists recommend prescription-strength retinoids for the treatment of freckles.

New Modern Treatments

Since melanin is accumulated in the upper layer of the skin, skin lightening and peeling is the natural way to go. There are different ingredients in products that can be used for this purpose:

- Hydroquinone has been a very popular treatment, however it can irritate the skin.

- Kojic acid, discovered in Japan in 1989, is a natural product derived from fungi (mushroom). It is gentle on the skin and very effective in treating skin discoloration. Penetrating upper skin layers, it inhibits the formation of the pigment.

- Alpha-hydroxy acids help to shed old cells faster, therefore they will be helpful as well. By removing the outer skin cells, which are usually darker, you will make your freckles or age spots lighter and less visible.

More modern treatments for lightening freckles include freezing them with liquid nitrogen, and the use of strong acid peels or ablative laser treatments which are also used to treat fine lines and wrinkles. Freezing, chemical peels and ablative laser treatments, while more effective than conventional treatments, can damage healthy skin, cause scarring and demand lengthy recovery times.

Most prescription creams used to lighten the skin contain hydroquinone. Bleaches lighten and fade darkened skin patches by slowing the production of melanin so those dark spots gradually fade to match normal skin coloration.

Prescription bleaches contain twice the amount of hydroquinone, the active ingredient, as over-the-counter skin bleaches. In more severe cases prescription creams with tretinoin and a cortisone cream are added. These are somewhat irritating to sensitive skin and will take 3-6 months to produce improvement.

There are now several highly effective laser treatments. The q-switched ruby and other pigmented lesion lasers often remove pigment without scarring. A test spot in an inconspicuous place will need to be done as they sometimes make things worse instead of better. Intense pulsed light (Photoderm) has a similar effect. Carbon dioxide and Erbium:YAG lasers vaporise the surface skin thus removing the pigmented lesions. Results are variable but sometimes very impressive with minimal risk of scarring.

Freckle Laser Removal

The most effective freckle removal method is freckle laser removal. There are a number of available laser treatments that are safe. A laser projects an intense light on the area that is affected, causing the light to be absorbed by the oxyhemoglobin and melanin so that the darker cells are destroyed and the healthy cells are left in tact. Your will need to protect your eyes from the intense light by wearing goggles. The light is directed using a very thin piece of equipment.

Pulsed Laser Treatment

The pigmented spots absorb the visible light from a laser while the heat from the light causes a therapeutic effect. You will feel a mild pinching sensation but there is no anesthetic required. The entire treatment process lasts only a few minutes. Immediately after treatment the spots will get darker and the surrounding skin will be red. After a few treatments the skin will start to peel and the dark spots will gradually fade and then disappear. For light freckles you often only need one or two treatments. When he spots are darker then freckle removal will take longer. If you use sun protection lotion and avoid excessive exposure to the sun the spots should not reappear.

Advantages of Freckle Laser Removal

The entire treatment process only takes a few minutes. You don’t need to have any anesthetic. Within three to four weeks of your treatment you will start to see positive results. There is minimum damage to the skin and discoloration. There is very little after care and very little discomfort during the procedure.

However, unless you protect your skin, freckle removal by laser will only help for one summer. There is always the small chance that the treatment can result in worse pigmentation. You should request a test of a specific spot first for this reason to make sure treatment will work for you. To prevent freckles from becoming worse you should take precautions such as wearing a hat, sunscreen and using regular masks.

With superficial resurfacing techniques, there is minimal discomfort and no down-time but several treatments are often necessary. Unfortunately the treatment occasionally makes the pigmentation worse. Continued careful sun protection is essential, because the pigmentation is likely to recur next summer. Unsightly benign skin moles may be removed using traditional surgical techniques (excision biopsy or with a resurfacing laser.

Natural Treatments & Remedies?

There are also natural remedies to fade or get rid of freckles. Wash your face with sour milk. Lactic acid will provide gentle peeling effect without irritating or drying your skin. Lemon juice is a time proven freckle fighting remedy.

It is not necessary to rub your skin with a piece of lemon. Applying the juice with your fingers will do the job. Fruit and vegetable masks (apricots, strawberries, cucumbers, red currant). Sour cream mask. Do not rinse this mask completely, just remove gently with a facial tissue, then apply a moisturizer.

For oily skin - use lemon juice before applying the mask. Natural parsley juice (or parsley infusion) mixed with equal amounts of lemon juice, orange juice, and red currant juice under your favorite cream will help you keep your freckles invisible.

Last but not least - increase your Vitamin C intake! It makes your skin less sensitive to the sun. Foods rich in vitamin C include citrus fruits, apples, green onions, black and red currant, rosehip tea.