Rapid onset freckles

General Questions
#1

I am a fair-skinned gent of Irish/German decent. I have always had some light freckles on my face and shoulders, but none on my arms or legs. Today I was changing my socks, and noticed that one of my feet was covered in freckles. I am a potato, and there is no chance that this area of my body was exposed to sun. I am 30, and figured that most changes to my body (other than getting fatter and hairier, perhaps), were over.

The patch of freckles covers about 3/4 of my foot, and is so prominent that I probably would have noticed them yesterday, or at most, the day before. My wife confirms that I am not crazy- not that she makes a habit of staring at my feet, but she is pretty observent, and she has not seen these before. They look exactly like freckles, are not raised, do not itch, do not hurt, and do not wash off.

Any clues what is going on?

#2

I don’t have an answer, but it seems that sudden a change might merit at least a call to a dermatologist’s office.

#3

Interesting, Im Irish/Bohemian and Ive noticed quite a few new freckles as well all over my body. I also don’t get much sun, in fact there isn’t much sun to get in these parts. As far as I know, and im not a dermatologist, freckles are not a big deal as long as they meet certain criteria. I wont list those things here, you kind find out with a little web research or a call to the doctor.

#4

Come on - going to a doctor is cheating! I finally have a good question for the board - I’m not going to ruin it by seeking professional help…

#5

Hmm. Dunno. I do know that I suddenly noticed a few freckles on my palm, a real puzzle since my palms don’t get much sun and to my knowledge this is not a real common place for freckles. I mentioned it to my doctor at my next visit. He was unimpressed and told me just to make sure they didn’t change shape or color suddenly.

Five years later, I still have the same boring freckles on my palm.

So sudden weird freckles do not, apparently, mean you’re on the fast track for a visit from Mr. Melanoma.