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Preventing unsightly blemishes on the face, décolleté or back of the hands is possible and highly recommended from a dermatological point of view. If you protect your skin from the sun to prevent the appearance of sunspots, you are also protecting it against wrinkles, pore dilation, sallow coloration and also, without any added effort, you are preventing SKIN CANCER. That is why today, regardless of one’s motivation to protect oneself from the sun, I am going to write about what they are and how to avoid the two most frequent types of spots that appear in both women and men after sun exposure: sun spots and melasma, also called chloasma.

Solar lentigines are small rounded spots with well-defined borders and different shades of brown that appear exclusively on sun-exposed areas such as the face, décolleté, back of the hands, arms and legs. Generally these spots darken in summer and lighten slightly in winter but do not disappear spontaneously. Therefore, the best treatment for solar lentigines is prevention. In addition, this type of stain cannot be treated with depigmenting creams. If we want to make them disappear we will have to use more aggressive methods such as laser or freezing with liquid nitrogen. To avoid the appearance of solar lentigines we recommend the use of topical sunscreens of SPF 50+ or higher. Especially in the months of April to September, both included. In addition, it is very useful to wear a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and the forgotten, but practical and elegant umbrella. I carry one of each of these items in the car and thus avoid unnecessary “urban sunstroke” when I want to go shopping, pick up the kids from school, go to the park… I recommend it.

Melasma, chloasma or cloth are larger, brown, ill-defined spots that appear mainly on the forehead or symmetrically on the cheekbones, cheeks, upper lip or forearms. They are more frequent in Hispanic or Caucasian women, although they can also appear in men and other races. Their cause is mainly genetic and hormonal, as they may appear or worsen during pregnancy, due to contraceptives or other hormonal treatments. However, there are other important factors in the appearance of chloasma such as sun exposure or emotional stress. Unlike solar lentigines, in the case of melasma we can treat the spots with depigmenting creams at home, which are especially effective if supervised by a dermatologist and combined with periodic medical chemical peelings in the dermatology office. To avoid the appearance or worsening of melasma, chloasma or blotchiness, it is necessary to use topical sunscreens of SPF 50+ or higher all year round, even if we are not going to be exposed to sunlight. It has been shown that light from warm or white fluorescent tubes can also stimulate the appearance or worsening of melasma, so sunscreen should be applied daily from January to December. In this sense, I recommend the year-round use of certain moisturizing creams that have recently appeared on the market with maximum filters, considered SPF 100, as well as high quality and high tolerance moisturizing components that make them ideal for use as a regular day cream or as a make-up base. Without further ado, I wish you much healthy enjoyment of this beautiful and flowery spring that we have waited so long for this winter.