What should you know about spots of discoloration on skin?

A flat darker mark can remain after a pimple, rash, bite, or injury has settled. Sun and repeated ultraviolet exposure can deepen existing pigment and create uneven tone. Lighter areas may follow inflammation or irritation, while redness can reflect active inflammation, sensitivity, or visible small blood vessels. A spot with scale, crust, bleeding, tenderness, or a raised surface is different from a stable flat mark.

Describe the colour in your own skin tone, the exact location, whether the border is even, and whether the area is growing or changing. Compare photographs taken in consistent lighting rather than judging it after applying a new product.

Use gentle, fragrance-free skin care and avoid picking, scrubbing, and unplanned bleaching products. Protect exposed skin from ultraviolet light with clothing, shade, and suitable sunscreen. Treating the trigger, such as ongoing irritation or inflamed pimples, is often more useful than trying to fade the mark immediately. A clinician can identify whether the change is pigment, redness, or another lesion and select treatment that fits your skin. See [Pimples](/symptoms/pimples/) and [Acne](/conditions/acne/) for common inflammatory triggers.

Arrange a skin examination for a new mark that changes in size, shape, colour, or texture, or for one that bleeds, crusts, becomes painful, or does not heal. Seek prompt advice when several areas change quickly, the skin is blistered, or swelling and fever accompany the colour change. Do not rely on a home cream to identify the cause.

Is this pigment, redness, irritation, or another type of skin change? Could a recent rash, product, medicine, or ultraviolet exposure explain it? Does it need closer examination? Which approach can improve the appearance without further irritating my skin?