Hyperpigmentation Treatment

In order to understand how hyperpigmentation treatment can work you need to understand what hyperpigmentation is and what causes it.

Hyperpigmentation is a disorder in which areas of an individual’s nails or skin become darker than the rest of their skin. This darkening is usually caused by excessive production of melanin in the skin cells.

Causes for excessive melanin production can include, hormone changes in the body, damage from the sun, injury to you skin, and diseases such as melasma, Celiac, and Addison’s disease.

Hyperpigmentation treatment medications including topical solutions, and herbal treatments and lotions will help lighten the discolored areas and reduce the overall appearance of the hyperpigmentation..

Hyperpigmentation treatment for mild skin cases such as melasma induced by hormone changes such as pregnancy can be quite simple. In most cases the darker patches fade after pregnancy, and no treatment is necessary. If not, the patches often respond to treatment with prescription creams or other natural skin lighteners. This type of hyperpigmentation treatment is also useful for treating age spots also known as liver spots. Dark patches caused by most types of acne, and patches on the skin. In all of these cases applying small amounts of a skin lightener will help lighten darker patches of skin. Avoiding exposure to the sun is also important, as even small amounts of sun exposure can cause enough melanin production to give you patches of darker skin.

There are several different over-the-counter and prescription medications which can be used for hyperpigmentation treatment. These products usually include alpha-hydroxy acids or Alpha Arbutin, Kojic Acid, and retinoid. Most of these skin lightener products including hydroquinone, are slow-acting, and must be applied to the dark patches for several weeks or months before hyperpigmented patches of skin will begin to lighten. It’s important to remember that you should always cease using a skin lightener immediately if your skin reddens and becomes painful or itchy.

While most forms of hyperpigmentation treatment involve the use of topical medications applied to the skin area dermabrasion can also be used as a treatment. This type of hyperpigmentation treatment is called cryosurgery, and involves applying small amounts of liquid nitrogen to the hyper pigmented areas of skin. This treatment works but is expensive because melanin-producing cells are sensitive to cold. In some cases, however, the application of liquid nitrogen can have the opposite effect, and actually darken areas of hyperpigmentation. Our recommendation is to first try using some type of natural skin lightener or prescription skin lighter for a period of time before tying dermabrasion.