Sunspots after a summer outdoors: what to do in September
Why they appeared now. Sun damage is cumulative and delayed. What you are seeing in September is not just this summer — it is this summer arriving on top of every previous one.
Why September is the right month to act. Pigment work needs the sun exposure curve to be going down, not up. In this city, that is now. Waiting until spring means starting the treatment just as the conditions turn against it.
The first thing to do is not a treatment
Look at what appeared, and separate two things.
Flat brown patches on sun-exposed areas — face, chest, shoulders, backs of hands, forearms — that darkened over the summer are the ordinary picture.
Anything that is not that deserves a doctor before a clinic. Specifically: a spot that is changing in size, shape or colour, one with an irregular or uneven border, one that itches, bleeds, crusts or does not heal, one that looks different from all your others, or a new pigmented spot appearing after middle age.
No cosmetic clinic should be treating a lesion nobody has assessed. A good one will decline and tell you why. This is the single most useful paragraph on this page.
Why the timing actually matters
Treatments that work on pigment work by targeting pigment. Skin that is currently carrying a lot of extra pigment — that is, tanned skin — competes for that energy, which makes treatment less precise and less comfortable, and raises the risk of the treatment itself leaving a mark.
Then afterwards, treated skin is more vulnerable to sun for a period. Going back into strong sun undoes the work, and can leave you worse off than when you started.
Put those together and the sensible window is the descending half of the year. September is the start of it. That is not marketing; it is the same reason your clinic will ask about recent holidays — the mechanism is in why a tan changes the appointment.
What to do in September specifically
- Let the tan settle first. Book a consultation now, but expect the assessment to be more accurate once your summer colour has faded. Two people with the same underlying pigment can look very different in early September.
- Start daily sun protection immediately, and keep it up through autumn. This is not optional preparation, it is part of the treatment, and it is the single biggest determinant of whether the result holds.
- Take a photo now, in consistent light. Pigment changes slowly and memory is unreliable. You will want the comparison.
- Stop picking at anything raised or flaking. That is how a mark becomes a longer-lasting mark.
- Book the consultation, not the treatment. What suits you depends on what the marks actually are, and that needs looking at.
Sunspots and melasma are not the same problem
This distinction changes everything about what to expect, so it is worth getting straight before you book.
- Sun-induced spots are typically discrete, defined, on sun-exposed areas, and accumulate with age and exposure.
- Melasma tends to be larger, more diffuse and symmetrical, often across the cheeks, forehead or upper lip, and is driven by hormones as well as sun. It behaves very differently over time and is far more prone to returning.
Treating one as though it were the other is a common way to be disappointed. If your pattern looks more like the second, start with melasma.
What a realistic plan looks like
Expect a consultation, an assessment of what the marks are, a plan that includes daily sun protection as a non-negotiable component, and a course rather than a single visit. Expect improvement rather than erasure, and expect maintenance — because the sun does not stop and neither does the underlying tendency.
Also expect honesty about your skin. Some approaches carry more risk of leaving marks behind on deeper skin tones, and a practitioner should raise that without being asked.
What to bring to the consultation
- A list of what appeared or worsened this summer, and where.
- Any history of pigment marks after spots, burns or previous treatments.
- Medications, since some increase sun sensitivity.
- Whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
- Your realistic sun exposure — work outdoors, sport, a winter holiday somewhere sunny.
That last one changes the plan more than people expect. A February trip to the sun in the middle of a pigment course is worth mentioning in September, not in January.
Where to book
- Downtown Montreal — 2365 rue Saint-Patrick, Unit A5
- Laval — 1655 boulevard de l’Avenir
- Saint-Léonard — 5045 rue Jean-Talon Est
- West Island — 45 boulevard Brunswick, Dollard-des-Ormeaux
Frequently asked questions
Why did sunspots appear after this summer?
Sun damage is cumulative and shows up on a delay, so what appears in September is this summer arriving on top of every previous one rather than the result of a single holiday. That is also why the same spots tend to darken each year.
Is September a good time to treat pigmentation?
It is the start of the right window. Pigment treatments target pigment, so tanned skin competes for the energy and makes treatment less precise; and treated skin is more vulnerable to sun afterwards. Both point to the descending half of the year, which in this city begins now.
When should I see a doctor instead of a clinic?
Before booking anything cosmetic, see a doctor about any spot that is changing in size, shape or colour, has an irregular border, itches, bleeds, crusts or does not heal, looks different from all your others, or is newly pigmented and appearing after middle age. No cosmetic clinic should treat a lesion nobody has assessed.
What is the difference between sunspots and melasma?
Sun-induced spots are usually discrete and defined on sun-exposed areas, accumulating with age and exposure. Melasma tends to be larger, more diffuse and symmetrical, often across cheeks, forehead or upper lip, and is driven by hormones as well as sun. It behaves differently and returns far more readily.
Will the spots come back?
Expect improvement rather than erasure, and expect maintenance. The sun does not stop and neither does the underlying tendency, which is why daily sun protection is part of the treatment rather than advice attached to it.
General information about pigmentation and its treatment. It is not medical advice, it is not a diagnosis, and no result is promised or implied. Any spot that is new, changing, irregular, itching, bleeding, crusting, failing to heal, or different from your others should be assessed by a doctor before any cosmetic treatment. Whether a treatment suits you depends on your skin, your health and your history, and that is a judgement for a qualified professional at a consultation.
