While for some of you it could be a blessing to soak up the sunlight, but for some of us, it could leave a fugly mark, in the form of dark patches. Those dark patches are called hyperpigmentation.
Those skin areas are darker than the rest of your body or skin. It’s more common and prevalent in darker skin toned women. However, there’s nothing to worry about. If you’re looking forward to getting rid of hyperpigmentation ever since you’re back holiday, we have some solutions for you.
We are here with some of the best advice that will surely help you cope up with hyper pigment.
Ready? Shoot.
According to London aesthetics doctor, Dr David Jack, this usually occurs as a result of your skin’s effort to protect itself from the unfriendly effects of UV rays. When you go out in the sunlight, the melanocytes in the deeper levels of your skin produce cells that have skin-darkening pigment known as melanin. If some areas of your skin produce melanin more than required, you will end up getting dark patches, which is called hyperpigmentation.
And in any case, if you are addicted to your smartphone, we have some bad news for you:
A recent study has shown that High Energy Visible Light (HEV) emitted from your smartphone could be a culprit.
Sunspots are one type of hyperpigmentation. There are several different types of hyperpigmentation; melasma (hormonally triggered), sunspots (sunburn) and scarring and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, as per LA dermatologist, Dr Gary Goldfaden.
Normally, it’s your face, chest and neck that are more susceptible to hyperpigmentation – more particularly melasma. It’s initially caused by birth pills, hormones, pregnancy, menopause and perimenopause. Too much exposure to the sunlight also holds greater chances of melasma and makes it difficult to get rid of it.
Hyperpigmentation does not harm your skin. That must be a relief?
Okay, so here’s something that will relieve you some more: there are some ways you can treat hyperpigmentation (including home remedies).
First,
And by any chance, if you have lighter patches of hyperpigmentation, then you are in luck! You can try some of these treatments:
This is probably what you were looking for all this while. Yes, there are home remedies that you can get rid of hyperpigmentation and the good news is, most of these remedies are very much effective.
Again, before you proceed to treat your hyperpigmentation through such home remedies, make sure to try it on a small patch of skin at first. This is for you to experiment if your skin can take the tenderness of whatever you are about to apply.
Here’s a table for your better understanding of the common types of hyperpigmentation and its symptoms:
Type | Symptom | Where on your body? | How it can affect? |
Age spots (also known as liver spots or solar lentigines) | These are brown/tan spots that are visible on your skin due to sun overexposure | They mostly appear on your face, sun-exposed areas and hands | Age spots, as the name suggests, mostly appear on older adults or after a person has been overexposed to the sun |
Melasma (also known as chloasma or “the mask of pregnancy) | Usually large patches on tanned skin | You will see them appearing on forehead, stomach and of course, face | Women, who are taking birth control pills, pregnant and people with darker skin colour are likely to develop melasma |
Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation | Spots or patches are a side effect of eczema or acne | Normally appear on the face and neck | People who have had injuries on their skin or inflammation. |
It all depends on what type of hyperpigmentation you have got, but we have listed some of the common causes. Check and see if yours matches with any of them from the below:
The first thing that you must do is go see a doctor once you identify the causes and types of hyperpigmentation. The doctor might take a small sample of your skin to examine the cause of your hyperpigmentation. Your skin care specialist might also use a special kind of light called Wood’s light to examine your skin. Consequently, your dermatologist will create a treatment plan for you as necessary.
It’s pretty common for you to get hyperpigmentation. Plus, it’s not very harmful to your skin and you can even get rid of it through creams, home remedies and other effective treatments.
Seek a doctor’s advice if you notice symptoms of hyperpigmentation.