What Causes Pigmentation and Best Treatments to Remove It
Freckles and melasma are examples of skin pigmentation on the body and face. Hormones, genetics, illness, age, sun exposure, or medical issues all contribute to this skin condition.
When left untreated, pigmentation issues might swiftly escalate into a long-term annoyance. A simple discolored spot might take months or years to disappear, but it could recover quickly with medical cosmetic procedures.
Nevertheless, correcting pigmentation in specific regions may be difficult since there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. One pigmentation removal treatment might be effective in certain places but might be too harsh in others, especially if the skin is thin or sensitive.
What’s Pigmentation And How Does It Occur?
Pigmentation is a skin ailment in which dark patches appear as a result of an excess of melanin pigments in the skin. These brown pigmented patches are most common on the face’s visible and sun-exposed parts, like the nose and cheeks. As a result, many individuals are self-conscious regarding their skin colour.
Pigmentation comes in a variety of forms. The following are the most frequent forms of pigmentation:
Melasma
Melasma is a pigmentation type that often affects persons who spend lots of time in and out of the sun. These blemishes may appear anywhere on your face or the upper part of your body.
Melasma occurs as harmless grey or brown patches on the tip of the nose, neck, cheeks, or shoulders.
More research is required to properly understand how and why melasma develops, however, for the time being, typical causes of melasma are excessive sun exposure, hormonal imbalance like using birth control pills, or an allergic response to particular skincare products.
Age Spots
Age spots, commonly called sun spots or liver spots, are among the most frequent kinds of pigmentation in Singapore.
These spots, which mostly impact older people, are caused by chronic exposure to sun and, similar to freckles, are flat, brown, and differ in size.
They are usually misdiagnosed as malignant growths. Seek medical attention right away if you notice age spots that seem to be black in color or have strange discoloration, are bigger compared to normal or are bleeding.
These might be indicators of aging spots which have developed into melanoma, a deadly kind of skin cancer.
Freckles
Few people are born with freckles in tropical Singapore. Freckles, which are most frequent in persons with red hair, aren’t permanent – based on how you take care of your skin.
As you become older, they might transform into liver spots or age spots, which might become darker and more persistent.
Scars From Acne
The skin has the ability to repair itself after an acne breakout; nevertheless, acne scars may form throughout this healing process. Acne that doesn’t cure correctly might leave lifelong scars.
Picking at nodular or cystic acne, which are kinds of inflammatory acne, may cause acne scars like rolling scars or boxcar scars. Although the likelihood of scarring is modest, hormonal or teen acne may lead to acne scars.
What Causes Pigmentation?
Pigmentation is the color of the hair, eyes, and skin caused by the pigment melanin. The kind of melanin generated differs in hues based on your DNA.
Other variables that influence the varying degrees of melanin include sun exposure, age, and hormone abnormalities.
Pigmentation occurs when one or more of these elements combine. The majority of frequent kinds of pigmentation might be symptoms of an underlying skin problem. However, if you suspect anything is wrong, you should visit a dermatologist or your doctor.
Treatments
Pigmentation treatments are classified into four groups. Please keep in mind that certain kinds of pigmentation, such as melasma, are more resistant and will need additional treatments over a longer period of time.
These procedures may be utilized in conjunction for the greatest results. A lot of these therapies complement one another.
The first step in preventing new pigmentation and improving pre-existing pigmentation is to use UV protection and avoid the sun. The body’s natural reaction to exposure to the sun is pigmentation. As a result, it is critical to limit sun exposure as a cause of deteriorating pigmentation.
Pigment lightening creams and topical depigmentation are the next stages in pigmentation therapy. There are numerous kinds of topical creams for pigmentation removal available on the market. These lotions diminish pigmentation by inhibiting the formation of new pigments.
However, dryness and redness of the skin in the region treated are frequent adverse effects of topical lotions. As a result, cautious application of the cream under the supervision of a doctor is strongly advised.
Laser pigmentation removal procedures are the next stage in pigmentation therapy. A variety of lasers were used to correct uneven skin tone and pigmentation. Pico Laser is a common laser treatment option. It’s due to the fact that Pico Laser technology is a gentle, non-invasive, and quick therapy for pigmentation.
The last method of pigmentation therapy is oral medicine such as tranexamic acid. Melasma, a persistent kind of pigmentation, is treated with tranexamic acid therapy.
For the greatest results, please seek a thorough medical consultation to assess the kind of pigmentation you have and develop a treatment strategy.