Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffDiagnosing age spots may include:
- Visual inspection. Your doctor can diagnose age spots by visually inspecting your skin.
- Skin biopsy. If there's any doubt, your doctor may do other tests, such as a skin biopsy. During a skin biopsy, your doctor takes a small sample of your skin (biopsy) for microscopic analysis. A skin biopsy is usually done in a doctor's office using a local anesthetic.
Other conditions
Other conditions that can look similar to age spots include:
- Moles. Although they often appear as small, dark brown spots, moles (nevi) vary in color and size. They can be raised or flat and can develop almost anywhere on your body — even between your fingers and toes.
- Seborrheic keratoses. These tan, brown or black growths have a wart-like or waxy, pasted-on appearance and range in size from very small to more than 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) across.
- Lentigo maligna. One type of skin cancer known as lentigo maligna melanoma can develop in areas of long-term sun exposure. Lentigo maligna starts as tan, brown or black lesions that slowly darken and enlarge. They tend to have an irregular border and uneven coloring and may be slightly raised.
References
- Schaffer JV, et al. Benign pigmented skin lesions other than melanocytic nevi (moles). http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 3, 2008.
- Ortonne JP, et al. Treatment of solar lentigines. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. 2006;54:S262.
- Farris PK. Combination therapy for solar lentigines. Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. 2004;3:S23.
- What you need to know about moles and dysplastic nevi. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/pdf/WYNTK/WYNTK_moles.pdf. Accessed Dec. 4, 2008.
- The sun and your skin. American Academy of Dermatology. http://www.aad.org/public/publications/pamphlets/sun_sun.html. Accessed Dec. 3, 2008.
- Habif TP. Light-related diseases and disorders of pigmentation. In: Habif TP. Clinical Dermatology: A Color Guide to Diagnosis and Therapy. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby; 2004. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/112580021-4/0/1195/130.html?tocnode=51442208&fromURL=130.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-01319-8..50021-2--cesec13_2361. Accessed Dec. 4, 2008.
- Alpha hydroxy acids. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://www.naturaldatabase.com. Accessed Dec. 4, 2008.
- Draelos ZD. Skin lightening preparations and the hydroquinone controversy. Dermatologic Therapy. 2007;20:308.
- Chawla S, et al. Mechanism of tyrosinase inhibition by deoxyArbutin and its second-generation derivatives. British Journal of Dermatology. 2008;159:1267.
