Actinic lentigines (“liver spots,” “sun spots,” or “age spots”) are small, gray-brown spots that appear on the wrists, backs of the hands, forearms, and face.
Actinic lentigines are not a type of skin cancer, do not progress to become skin cancer, and do not require any treatment. However, rapid change in one of these spots could be caused by another problem, such as lentigo maligna, a type of melanoma.
There are treatments to remove or reduce actinic lentigines, if desired.
| Author: | Jan Nissl, RN, BS |
| Medical Review: | William M. Green, MD - Emergency Medicine Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Alexander H. Murray, MD, FRCPC - Dermatology H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine |
| Last Updated: July 8, 2009 | |
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