Types of Skin Pigmentation
Melanin shields our skin from the sun’s harmful rays, and it also gives our skin pigment. Melanin also determines the skin color of an individual. But when melanin is overproduced or underproduced, the skin will be stained.
There are many types of skin pigmentation according to their cause and characteristics. If you like to know more about the types of skin pigmentation, the details are below.
• Ephelides/Freckles
People with light skin are the common victims of freckles. blemishes are commonly inherited. Having some of them can be cute, but they can be unattractive when they are too many.
• Solar Lentigines
Solar lentigines are also known as sun spots or age spots. They are commonly derived from accumulated damaged melanocytes, which crumple together, thus producing dark spots on skin. Age spots commonly appear on sun exposed areas. They may look like freckles, but mostly solar lentigines are due to skin damage.
• Melasma
Melasma occurs more in women than in men. Due to hormonal inequity when taking contraceptive pills, women are more susceptible in having melasma. Melasma looks like brown patches on the face or any part of the body. Two forms of melasma are the epidermal and dermal. In the case of epidermal melasma, it is only subtle because it only affects the epidermis. Dermal melasma could be difficult to get rid off because it lies deep under the skin.
• Chloasma
It is one of the signs of pregnancy. Excessive sun exposure can aggravate this condition. It can also occur on the abdominal area.
The abovementioned pigmentation troubles are caused by too much pigmentation. In contrast with that, we’ll discuss hypopigmentation next. Hypopigmentation is the deficiency of melanin on skin.
• Skin Damage
The skin may also lose pigment due to wounds.
• Albinism
This condition is the loss of melanin on skin. This causes some albino people to have very light skin, hair and eye color. They have a gene which hamper the production of pigment. Albinism should be taken care of with great caution since without melanin, the skin is in danger of developing cancer and other skin damage brought by the sun.
• Vitiligo
The common symptoms of vitiligo are smooth white patches on skin. Vitiligo is cause by damage in pigment producing cells, and is classified as an autoimmune disorder. Since there is no cure for it yet, all a patient can do is to conceal it with make up.
One should seek for medical advice before going through any medication of these skin conditions. Doing self treatment can make it worse, so don’t take the risk.
Pigmentation Further Reading:
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