--- title: Why So Many People Seem to Have a Freckle on the Wrist description: Here's what dermatologists have to say about the viral wrist freckle that everyone seems to have. canonical: https://time.com/5599179/freckle-on-wrist-myth-explained/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-05-31T19:46:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:59:05.069Z og:title: Here's Why So Many People Seem to Have the Same Freckle og:description: Here's how dermatologists explain the phenomenon of the matching wrist freckle og:url: https://time.com/5599179/freckle-on-wrist-myth-explained/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt554f804fff64df72/69894aa8db29879f6d26266a/wrist-freckle-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2121 og:image:height: 1193 og:image:alt: Wirst Pain og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's Why So Many People Seem to Have the Same Freckle twitter:description: Here's how dermatologists explain the phenomenon of the matching wrist freckle twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt554f804fff64df72/69894aa8db29879f6d26266a/wrist-freckle-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # There's a Simple Reason Why So Many People Seem to Have the Same Freckle > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=95b39200-3e5a-4e01-9be7-95635bf7a5b6&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 31, 2019 7:46 PM UTC  Woman holding wirst. Woman holding wirst. solidcolours—Getty Images/iStockphoto  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner May 31, 2019 7:46 PM UTC Earlier this week, women on Twitter [were shocked to discover](http://time.com/5597757/women-wrist-freckle-photos/) a new thing in common: a single, standout freckle on the center of the wrist. More than 12,000 people responded to the original Twitter post identifying this phenomenon, sharing their own photos of their matching freckle. But why do so many people seem to have this same mark — and why there, on the center of the wrist? For answers, TIME turned to [Dr. Joyce Park](http://www.teawithmd.com/), a board-certified dermatologist in the Bay Area. Dr. Park agreed that the viral conversation was pretty funny — but suggested it can be easily explained by sun exposure. “Freckles are basically areas of the skin where you have more pigment or melanin deposition from UV radiation,” she says. “The forearms, the wrists and the hands are really common spots to get that exposure. If you think about it, when you’re driving, that side of your wrist and hand are just constantly being exposed to sunlight, even if you’re wearing sleeves.” Another factor? We often forget to put sunscreen on that particular area, she notes. Other freckle-prone areas: the face, shoulders and back of the neck for those with short hair. But New York City dermatologist [Dr. Joshua Zeichner](http://www.zeichnerdermatology.com/), who had a slightly different take on the phenomenon. “What we are actually seeing in these photos are moles or ‘beauty marks’,” Dr. Zeichner suggests. “These spots are harmless overgrowths of pigment producing cells, causing small brown spots on the skin.” Because they’re so common, he says, almost everyone has “at least one mole on the arms,” so the fact that so many people have one on their wrist doesn’t come as a surprise. Sun exposure may play a role in making these marks look darker, too, but moles can appear anywhere on the body. Both Dr. Park and Dr. Zeichner urge everyone to pay attention to freckles and moles, however, in case they become cancerous. It’s always smart to get a full body skin check regularly. And Dr. Zeichner suggests an “ABCDE rule” to evaluate: pay attention to any asymmetry, border irregularity, non-uniform color, diameter larger than a pencil tip eraser, or evolving size, shape or color. And Dr. Park’s main tip: “Sunscreen is always a great idea,” she says; it’s good to reapply every few hours with a broad-spectrum formula. So of course the so-called freckle “phenomenon” has some pretty simple explanations. But at least everyone on Twitter has found something to bond about. > [](https://twitter.com/aarynwhitley/status/1131302034194554881) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5599179/freckle-on-wrist-myth-explained/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5599179/freckle-on-wrist-myth-explained/"},"headline":"There's a Simple Reason Why So Many People Seem to Have the Same Freckle","datePublished":"2019-05-31T19:46:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:59:05.069Z","description":"Don't forget the sunscreen","url":"https://time.com/5599179/freckle-on-wrist-myth-explained/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt554f804fff64df72/69894aa8db29879f6d26266a/wrist-freckle-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt554f804fff64df72/69894aa8db29879f6d26266a/wrist-freckle-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Wirst Pain","caption":"Wirst Pain","creditText":"solidcolours—Getty Images/iStockphoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5599179/freckle-on-wrist-myth-explained/","name":"There's a Simple Reason Why So Many People Seem to Have the Same Freckle"}}]}] ```