Hyperpigmentation is a common and harmless condition that affects the color of your skin. As a result of producing an excess of melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color, some skin areas become darker.
There are several forms of hyperpigmentation: melasma, freckles, and age spots or liver spots. The darkening of some areas can be cause also by acne, skin injuries and some surgery.
Several factors can be the reason for having this skin condition. Let’s see a few of them:
-Too much exposure to sun
-Hormonal changes. Pregnant women, for example, can suffer a condition known as “mask of pregnancy”. The main reason for that is the overproduction of melanin during pregnancy. Other hormonal changes take place when taking birth control pills and during the menopause.
-Taking medicines that contain minocycline, blemycin, amiodarone, tetracycline, chloroquine, cyclophosphamide, or quinacrine have hyperpigmentation as a side effect.
-Genetics
A skin bleaching cream is not the only treatment available to help you reduce hyperpigmentation. There are several treatments to remedy this condition. The following are the top hyperpigmentation treatments you can find nowadays:
- Cryotherapy (freezing skin lesions) is useful only for small, well-localized hyperpigmented lesions, such as age spots.
- Laser Resurfacing. The first few layers of damaged skin are removed to leave behind a fresh, evenly toned skin. It is more expensive but effective, although it can have side effects. Many times, doctors recommend to use hydroquinone creams before the laser treatment.
- Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) is a type of laser treatment that eliminates hyperpigmentation by heating up the damaged area. It is fast and effective to remove localized spots. As laser resurfacing, it is expensive and can produce some side effects.
- Chemical Peeling remove the damaged skin layers by increasing cell renewal rate. Hydroxy acids are the main chemicals used in this treatment and it should only be applied by dermatologists.
- Microdermabrasion is a procedure that “sandblast” the skin with aluminum oxide crystals, and other types of mild abrasives to remove the top layer of the skin. This enhances the skin cells growth rate, decreasing the quantity of pigment delivered in the skin and lightening it.
- Oral treatments. Many of them contain L-glutathione. L-glutathione is an antioxidant produced by our body that, besides attacking free radicals, blocks the production of melanin. Others, are L-Cysteine based. L-Cysteine is an amino acid that works to suppress the effects of melanin and boost glutathione levels naturally.
- Topical therapies (creams and lotions). The most commonly used agents in these products are phenols (i.e., hydroquinone, mequinol), retinoids( i.e retinol and tretinoin), alpha-hydroxy acids (i.e., glycolic acid, lactic acid), glabridin (also known as licorice extract), kojic acid, and azelaic acid.
As you can see, you have a variety of treatments to choose from. Make a decision based on the severity of your problem, your budget and your dermatologist expertise.
If you want to learn more about topical therapies (skin bleaching creams and lotions) you should read the article: “Is a bleaching cream the best solution for hyperpigmentation problems?” Know what to look for if you decide to buy a skin bleaching cream as a hyperpigmentation treatment. bimatoprost uk