MOLES, FRECKLES AND SKIN TAGS
How these unique patterns of pigment form on your skin
WORDS AILSA HARVEY
DID YOU KNOW? Most skin tags areone to fivemillimetres long
T he colour of your skin – and how light or dark it is – is a result of your individual cell biology. Based on your genes, your skin is programmed to produce a certain amount of a pigment called melanin. Melanin plays a vital role in protecting the skin from the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The pigment is produced in cells called melanocytes, which are relatively evenly distributed throughout the skin. However, it is common for multiple areas of the body to contain clusters of these cells. When high numbers of melanocytes accumulate in one region, dark spots appear on the skin, called pigmented lesions. These include moles, freckles and skin tags.
Melanocyte clusters are mostly dark brown or
black. Sometimes they appear alone on the body, while other forms such as freckles are
closely spaced in large groups. People can
develop moles and other pigmented spots as
they age, but you will have the majority of your
moles by the time you are around 25 years old.
For the majority, this number is between
10 and 40 moles