What Causes Brown Spots Around Ankle Area?

Posted on Mon, 26 May 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 27 May 2014 Answered on

Mon, 23 Jun 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I have many medium brown spots around my ankle area. What causes this?

Answered by Dr. Shafi Ullah Khan (10 hours later)

Brief Answer:
needs assessment & clinical correlation to be sure

Detailed Answer:
Thank you for asking!
There could be many possibilities to these brown spots and it will be challenging to comment on its likely possibility without a thorough assessment of the area and a complete clinical correlation.
If these brown spots are associated with some itching or irritation with or prior history of ankle swelling then it is most likely a type of dermatitis called stasis dermatitis. My hypothesis will be confirmed further if your brown spots look like these in the link
http://img.medscape.com/pi/emed/ckb/dermatology/0000-0000-0000-0000.jpg
Some other possibilities like cellulitis ,Asteatotic Eczema,Atopic Dermatitis, allergic and irritant contact dermatitis, necrobiosis lipoidica, tinea pedis, purpuric dermatitis etc.
It could also be a dermatologic manifestation of some systemic disease.
It could be some purpuric lesions from deranged hematological profile, assessment of which is also mandatory.
To know for sure seek a dermatologist and let them decide what it is after complete assessment of them.
I hope you see it in a right perspective. Take good care of yourself and dont forget to close the discussion please.
Regards
S Khan

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar