Skin Hyperpigmentation Causes and Treatments

Skin pigmentation or Skin Hyperpigmentation

Skin pigmentation or Skin Hyperpigmentation of Skin Darkening causes, types, prevention and treatments.

Skin hyperpigmentation normally referred to as Skin pigmentation or Skin Darkening. It is caused by the overproduction of the melanin pigment in the skin. It is a commonly concerned issue nowadays and can affect any part of the body including the face, neck, and hands.

The following are the main causes of skin pigmentation:

  • Overexposure to sunlight: As most of us know skin becoming darker or getting tanned on exposure to noon sunlight. Exposure to sunlight causes low-level sunburn and chronic exposure to Ultra Violet A & B present in sunlight causes delayed tanning resulting in hyperpigmentation.
  • Skin Damage: Any damage to the skin resulting from a pimple, minor trauma, or dermatitis can harm your skin, which in turn initiates the melanocytes in our skin to produce excessive melanin, resulting in hyperpigmentation. Darker skin gets more affected
  • Vitamin Deficiency: Deficiency of Vitamin A, C, E, and B-Complex and result in dull, dark, and rough skin.
  • Allergic Reactions: Any sort of skin allergy will induce histamine production which in turn stimulates the melanocytes in our skin to produce excessive melanin, resulting in hyperpigmentation.
  • Inherited Factors: The inherited condition is a part of their DNA, my skip ages, and notice later a change in complexion. These hereditary prone people on exposure to the smallest exposure to sunlight can cause hyperpigmentation.
  • Drugs: Topical agents such as retinoids, hydroquinone, etc., and systemic agents such as anti-infective agents, anti-seizure drugs, hormone medicine, non-steroidal medications, chemotherapy medicines can prompt hyperpigmentation
  • Systemic medical Disorders: Some medical conditions can cause hyperpigmentation or discoloration with the skin. This includes Addison’s disease
  • Unexpected adverse of laser treatment: Following exposed skin normally facial laser treatment with no proper post-laser precautionary measures and sun exposure may result in hyperpigmentation.
  • Liver Disorder: Abnormal liver function may result in skin darkening.
  • Hormonal Change: In most cases of hormone contraceptive pill for conception and with the increased levels of estrogen and progesterone in pregnancy can cause hyperpigmentation. These hormonal changes can bring abnormal production in melanin pigment in the skin. Hyperpigmentation disorder Melasma, known as the ‘pregnancy mask, is caused by hormonal changes due to pregnancy and is characterized by splotchy, pigmented areas usually on the face. In some, the hyperpigmentation vanishes post-delivery, however, it won’t be the situation in some others.

Types of Hyperpigmentation:

Types of Hyperpigmentation: depending upon the layer of skin involved.

Epidermal Hyperpigmentation in which superficial layers of skin involved such as freckles, lentigines, age spots, café-au-lait macules, tanning, long melanocytic nevus(some), post-inflammatory pigmentation

Dermal Hyperpigmentation: the deeper layer of skin involved such as Nevus of Ota & Ito, ABNORM, melasma, tattoos, post-inflammatory pigmentation, cong melanocytic nevus(some)

How you can prevent Hyperpigmentation:

  • Avoid direct exposure to sunlight
  • Always apply a good sunscreen SPF >30 before you go out in the sun.
  • Keep yourself hydrated to avoid blemishes.
  • Consume lots of fruits and vegetables containing vitamins A, B, C & E.
  • Avoid excessive consumption of oily and spicy foods and hot climates.
  • Treatments used for skin pigmentation

Treatment depends upon the cause of your skin pigmentation and needs expert dermatologist opinion and on how to treat it, then you should visit Clear Skin Centre which is meant to give you the best treatment options and results to your pigmentation, as almost all variety of option treatment available.

Topical & Systemic medicines:

Topical lightening creams such as kojic acid, azelaic acid, glutathione, etc are prescribed to apply in particular limited areas of the skin. They are typically prescribed by a trained physician for treating hyperpigmentation of exposed skin. Retinoids are one of the most common ingredients of OTC products used for the treatment of hyperpigmentation. It is derived from Vitamin A, their small molecular structure allows them to penetrate deeper into the skin at the layers below the epidermis, thus allowing for an effective treatment. Retinoids are potent enough to treat hyperpigmentation, and in combination inhibit melanin production. However, if the dermatologist suggests retinoid in a different form or as a treatment aimed at maintenance, significant results can be seen.

Systemic glutathione is an antioxidant and prevents melanin deposition to sun damage. As we age, the body’s efficiency in generating glutathione decreases, and hence, we observe a subtle darkening of our original skin shade. Glutathione intake in form of either oral shots or as injections boosts the glutathione levels in the blood thus helping in diminishing the melanin deposition and hence lightening the complexion.

Chemical peel

A chemical peel involves the use of mild to strong acids made from a natural component such as fruits, to remove the epidermis and thus helps in faster collagen production and skin rejuvenation. Once the peel is applied, the outer layers of the skin either come off immediately or over some time giving way to fresh and healthy skin from beneath and help in the reduction of wrinkles, acne scars, skin damage, hyperpigmentation, melasma and more.

Microdermabrasion

A lunchtime procedure, microdermabrasion involves exfoliating the skin using tiny particles or diamond burrs to remove dead skin. There is no downtime with the procedure and dermatologists generally recommend once every 2 -4 weeks to achieve the best results. The treatment is more suitable for people with mild pigmentation and in all improves the appearance of skin discoloration.

Lasers

Lasers are used to treat hyperpigmentation of the affected areas and don’t have any effects on the surrounding skin. It is fairly painless and a non-intrusive treatment. There are various types of laser treatments available, depending on your hyperpigmentation.

Intense Pulse Light Therapy

IPL non-ablative laser therapy involves directing high-intensity laser pulses to the targeted areas. It’s proven the fact that it is concentrated on specific areas, the overall effectiveness of this treatment is way more than the others. In addition to hyperpigmentation, IPL can also treat wrinkles, telangiectasia, and unwanted hairs.

Q switched Nd: Yag laser:

Q Switch is the gold standard laser for the hyperpigmented disorder. We at Clear Skin Laser Centre have both Q-Switch nanolaser and pico laser to effectively treat all the hyperpigmented problems. It emits a highly focused beam of laser light, which passes harmlessly through the upper layer of the skin and is absorbed primarily by the excess pigment or tattoo ink within the lesion. As the light is absorbed, it is quickly converted to heat. The sudden rise in temperature within the treatment target fractures the ink or pigment into tiny particles. Tattoo ink fragments are carried away by the lymphatic system, while pigmented lesions are naturally shed from the skin one to two weeks after treatment

Laser skin resurfacing:

Laser skin resurfacing treatment can involve the usage of ablative or non-ablative lasers depending upon the extent of damage done to the skin, such as Fractional Co2, Erbium Yag, Erbium glass laser. The method is standard and involves targeting the laser beam at the target spots in order to break down the pigments which then get removed through the usual bodily systems.

Take home message:

Treatment depend upon the cause of your skin pigmentation and need expert dermatologist opinion and on how to treat it, then you should visit Clear Skin Centre which is meant to give you the best treatment options and results to your pigmentation as almost all the variety of options available.