July 5, 2017 | Stephen Fine, Founder and President

Freckles versus Moles

The name of this week’s skin cancer blog post may sound a bit like the title of a Grade B movie. However, it’s actually a reference to a common confusion between the two titled skin conditions that we very often come across. Hopefully, this piece will help to alleviate any confusion.

Freckle Facts

To help illustrate the differences, we’re going to provide some of the most useful information to have regarding freckles and flat moles. We’ll begin with the most important fact. Unlike flat moles, true freckles lack any cellular structure, which makes it impossible for any of them to turn cancerous. So if that’s ever in any way been a worry to either you or someone you know, you can put it out of your mind.

 With that said, here are some answers to a few more freckle FAQ’s. A mole can be flat, raised or partially-raised. They’re often secluded on our skin, and when not they’re part of an irregular grouping of other moles. By contrast freckles, which are simply clusters of melanin (our natural skin pigment), are without exception always flat.

Unlike some moles, freckles are never present at birth. They present later, after sun-exposure, to people who are predisposed to getting them. Moles are usually darker than freckles, with the latter susceptible to lightening in the winter and darkening during the summer months. To literally illustrate the difference, here are photos of both. The left picture depicts flat moles, and the right one, freckles:

We’d kindly ask you to keep one thing in mind. While freckles by themselves are totally harmless, having them usually means having a light complexion and/or sun-damaged skin. As such, extra care should be taken in the form of monthly self-examination of your skin, and meticulous sunscreen use whenever you’re outdoors.

*Additional source: Melanoma Education Foundation (MEF) Newsletter (Spring 2013)