Melanoderma

This term of course means excess of pigment resulting in dark discolorations, but the altered tint of skin may be blue, yellowish, or black; hence the terms of cyanoderma, xanthoderma, and melasma.

Melasma, or that condition in which the discoloration of skin, is black in color, is general or partial. The latter is generally called melasma. It may be a physiological condition, as seen in the staining around the nipple and the linea alba in pregnancy; this condition may be excessive. The varieties of melasma are lentigo and ephelis.

Lentigo is known as freckles. The seat of the pigment deposit is the rete mucosum; it is often congenital and of varying extent and distribution; generally, however, it consists of round yellowish spots, the size of split peas and less, not only on the parts exposed to the light, but also those covered by the dress. Lentigo occurs in those with fair skins, and particularly red-haired folk. There is no desquamation, no itching, and no heat of any kind in connection with freckles, which often disappear after puberty. Freckles do not depend upon seasonal change.


Lentigo may sometimes be made to disappear by an application of citric acid night and morning. One writer reports the application of emulsion of almonds, night and morning, to be the most satisfactory treatment, and advises its continuance until a slight amount of desquamation takes place. Another writer recommends the application of oleate of copper for the removal of freckles.


The internal remedies are:
Ferrrum mag. - Spots resembling summer freckles on back of hands and fingers.
Kali carb. - Freckles on the face.
Lycopod. - Freckles on the left side of the face and across the nose.
Nitric acid. - Freckles on the chest; dark freckles.
Petroleum. - Freckles on the arms.
Phosphorus. - Freckles on the lower limbs.
Sepia, - Freckles on the cheeks.
Sulphur. - Freckles on the nose.