Other Names For Age Spots
Wherever on the body it may be located, small spots of pigmented skin caused by sun damage are age spots. But if an age spot is relatively the same for each person who has it, why does it have several different names in the English language? However, all of these titles do not have a difference in their meanings and still refer to the same age spots that we know of. If you consider some other important aspects, you will see that there is reasonable cause for having various titles for age spots. And in the succeeding paragraphs, we will discuss some of the most well-known terms for age spots.
Solar lentigo is the first of these many titles. Based on the term solar, we are informed that an age spot, or sun spot, is correlated to the sun. This is correct, because almost all of the age spots that we see usually come from the effects of exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays along with the skin’s inability to quickly replace the damaged cells (a common sign of aging). Lentigo is simply another term for freckle, although the term is actually derived from an Old Middle English word of the same name that is used before to specifically describe “lentil-shaped spots”. We can therefore use the terms “solar lentil-shaped spots” or “lentil-shaped spots caused by the sun” to refer to age spots if we follow this context.
Senile freckle is also one of the many terms for age spots but this one is more common than the previously discussed term. Comparing it to the term age spots, the term senile freckle subtly implies the cause responsible for their formation. But since you are well aware of the difference between a senile freckle and an ordinary freckle, you should not confuse the two. Anyhow, it is still the same thing – an age spot.
Now, another term that is more applicable for health professionals’ use is lentigo senilis. Doctors, nurses and all the other health professionals actually are educated and instructed to call this medical aberration as lentigo senilis, the certified term. This is actually exactly the same as senile freckle – just the Latin version. If you are not a medical professional in any way, I suggest you just stick with the term age spots to avoid sounding boastful.
Lastly, the term liver spots, is the most commonly used and well-known term for age spots. Before everyone started using the term age spots, people commonly used the term liver spots. Some people have mistakenly identified age spots as a medical condition that has something to do with the liver. Indeed, for quite some time in the past, liver alterations are believed to have caused age spots; thus, the term liver spots somehow prevailed.
Nevertheless, the presence of several names for age spots does not change the fact that an age spot is still and will always be an age spot. Now, if you do not want to regret still having these spots later in the future, you must do something about them immediately.
