While many people are born with it, some people develop a skin pigmentation disorder over time and don’t even realize it. Pigmentation refers to the color of a person’s skin, and skin pigmentation disorders come in many forms like an uneven or blotchy complexion, age spots, liver spots, freckles and birth marks. When someone has a pigmentation disorder, they are either having an overproduction (think brown, purple, or pink spots) or an underproduction of a certain pigment (think Michael Jackson).
Melanin is the name of this pigment, and it is responsible for protecting us from those harmful UV rays that come from the sun. The more sun exposure we have, the more melanin is supposed to be deposited, and as a result, the skin gets darker, aka a “tan”.
Overproduction of melanin, or “hyper-pigmentation”, can also be caused by damaging the dermis through wounds, hormonal changes, and nutritional deficiency or prescription drugs. The sad thing about pigmentation is that once you see it, it’s too late. The damage has already been done.
However, don’t lose hope! There are ways to reduce the pigment and decreasing the appearance of hyper-pigmentation in addition to smoothing and evening out the skin tone. There are lots of products and treatments that work on this. If this is something that bothers you come in and we can start to work on it because no matter what your skin concern, I look forward to working with you to achieve beautiful, radiant skin.