—
This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical advice.
Everyone has heard about freckles. These are small spots dotting one’s skin, and many attribute it to a form of rare beauty. But while seeing freckles on the skin is common, there are some freckles that appear in your eye.
An eye freckle is called nevus and is common enough to occur in most of our eyes. The yellow brown spot on eye is typically harmless and just comes out of nowhere. Doctors still recommend keeping an eye on them (pun intended) as they can be a sign of future health risks. In this article, we will try to include everything you need to know about eye freckles.
What Are Eye Freckles?
The medical term for eye freckles is nevus (or nevi in plural). They resemble the freckles on the skin and are made of melanocytes, the same pigment which provides color to the skin and the eyes. The most common types of freckles are brown, yellowish, or black. It can also occur as a combination of colors like a yellow-brown spot on the eye.
Melanocytes that form moles or freckles are spread out and hence provide an even skin tone. In places where they clump together, they form a freckle. Nevi can occur at any period of life, and some are even formed before birth. Some of them are seen at the back of the eye, and others are more visible.
Only an eye doctor can see the nevi at the back of the eye. You can get them checked at regular intervals because they can be indicators of certain common eye conditions. It is very rare, but they can be indicators of melanoma, a type of cancer in some cases.
Types Of Nevus
There are three types of nevus:
- Conjunctival nevus on the surface usually occurs at the early stage of life.
- Iris nevi are flat, and they result from excessive sun exposure.
- Choroidal nevus at the back of the eye or under the retina. It is very rare, but it is slightly possible to become cancerous.
Choroidal nevi are usually seen in people with lighter skin tones. Sun exposure is also directly related to skin freckles and the yellow-brown spot on the eye.
Possible Treatment
No one requires any kind of treatment for the natural freckles either on the eye or the skin. One might need to get a routine fundoscopic exam to get everything checked. If something irregular pops up, the eye doctor will monitor the growth of the freckle and whether it is changing color or shape. Treatment is only required in case it turns out to be a melanoma.
The Takeaway
If you have recently spotted a yellow-brown spot on your eye, there is nothing to worry about. It is a natural process that happens to everyone across the globe. The best advice will be to monitor the freckle to see any change in the shape or size. Contact a doctor if any change is noticed.
—