What are these brown spots that come and go?

Answer 1

All skin has varying levels of pigmentation. Caucasians have the lightest pigmentation, of course, to the darkest black in African races. But, throughout the lifetime of every race, pigmentation can darken in spots, even for the darkest "black" skin color. Because the darker pigmentation areas are most noticeable on the lightest skin colors, people called the darker spots "brown spots".

Brown spots most often occur in people who get a lot of sun exposure or who use tanning beds. They also occur as people age, especially from the 40-year-olds up to elderly. Some people only have a few "spots", while other people are covered in brown spots. They most frequently occur in areas frequently exposed to the sun, such as the face, neck, hands, and backsides of the forearms. It is rare to see brown spots on the inner areas of the arms or even on the legs, unless the person had high rates of sun exposure.

These types of brown spots would not "come and go" although they can lighten in winter months and get darker in the summer months. They would also lighten or darken depending on tanning bed use and how frequently the tanning bed is used.

A second type of "darker skin areas" can occur if the skin is not scrubbed and kept clean. These "spots" are not the true "brown spots" which are caused by exposure to UV light. Instead, unwashed dirt, grime, and skin oils become embedded in shedding skin layers. But instead of the skin fully shedding (as when we bathe and towel dry), parts of the dead skin cells cling to the body. Each day, more dead skin forms a layer from underneath the top layer. As each dead skin cell layer is made, dirt can be trapped in the layers of an unwashed person. Eventually, the area can look very dark or like a dark callous. This type of "browning" is often on the heels, around the ankle bone, and on the feet. Some unwashed people can get so much browning in certain areas that the skin looks diseased. Using a cream to soften the dead skin layers, applying an exfoliant, soaking in a bathtub, and vigorously drying with the rough side of a towel can remove the browned areas. It may take weeks to remove all the trapped dirt and layers of dead skin.