Reason so many people seem to have the exact same freckle
If you were to cast your all-seeing gaze upon your own wrist then you might spot a freckle on the back of it, just at that point where it meets your hand.
Indeed, if you take a surreptitious look at the back of the hands of the people around you then you might see this same freckle in the exact same spot.
If they catch you looking then you ought to easily be able to defuse the situation by declaring yourself and your friend 'freckle buddies', but there's a good reason why so many people have one here.
There's been a few theories on the subject of the frequent freckle but one of the more plausible ones comes from dermatologist (skin doctor) Dr Joyce Park.
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She explained: “Freckles are basically areas of the skin where you have more pigment or melanin deposition from UV radiation.
“The forearms, the wrists and the hands are really common spots to get that exposure.
“If you think about it, when you’re driving, that side of your wrist and hand are just constantly being exposed to sunlight, even if you’re wearing sleeves.”
That makes a good deal of sense considering that despite your best efforts to cover up the sunlight your hands and wrists are liable to be poking out anyway.
Plus, when you're slathering on the sunscreen do you remember to do your wrists and the back of your hands or does that little aspect of your epidermis escape your attention?
However, those scientific types are always coming up with theories and someone else had another idea about why people get this stuff.
Another dermatologist called Dr Joshua Zeichner presented an alternative explanation.
“What we are actually seeing in these photos are moles or ‘beauty marks’”, he suggested. “These spots are harmless overgrowths of pigment producing cells, causing small brown spots on the skin.”
They're so common that pretty much everybody has ‘at least one mole on the arms’.
Sun exposure might be a part of it, but moles can turn up anywhere and people might as well look to other parts of their body to see some commonality in the forming of freckles.
One thing the dermatologists would agree on is that it’s important to look after your skin and, in particular, to check on moles and freckles regularly.
If anything changes about any of the moles or freckles, you should have a word with the doctor too.
Better safe than sorry.
Joe Harker