Pigmentation of Skin
June 30, 2009
The skin gets its color due to the presence of a pigment called melanin. When the production of melanin pigment increases, it makes the skin color dark and when its production decreases, the skin color lightens. It can affect the skin of the body in patches and may also affect the whole body. Pigmentation can be hyper or hypo.
Hypo-Pigmentation
Hypo-pigmentation means when the skin becomes light in colour. It can be seen in different conditions.
In children, hypo-pigmentation may occur on the face during winters. It may also be caused in the adults with white patches on the face and other areas of the body. This condition is called vitiligo. In this condition the cells that produce melanin get damaged. There is no treatment for vitiligo. You can just hide it by using some cosmetics.
Albinism is another type of hypo-pigmentation in which the skin produces no melanin; skin has no colour including hair and eyes too. In this situation the person has no cells that produce melanin.
The cause behind this condition is genetic. This category of people should use sunscreen whenever they go out in the sun as they can have sun burns easily or they should altogether avoid going out in the sun. They have the tendency to develop skin cancer easily. There is no cure for this.
Some skin infections, burns and blisters can also cause the skin to loose its colour but this is not permanent and goes away with the time.
Hyper-Pigmentation
Other type of defect in pigmentation is hyper-pigmentation, which is caused due to increase in the production of melanin and makes the skin dark. Some conditions like pregnancy and Addison’s disease can lead to this due to the hormonal changes.
During pregnancy some women develop black patches on the face, which is called melasma (or cholasma). This normally disappears within a year after childbirth. Some people may even develop this condition because of physiological aging process.
Most common cause of hyperpigmentation is sunburn and it can be cured by various medicines. Try to apply sunscreen whenever you go out in the sun. You can also get rid of this by applying some medicated creams and bleaching can also reduce the appearance of sunburns.
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