Anti Aging Skin Care » Skin Pigmentation Treatments

Skin Pigmentation Treatments

Patchy brown skin on the face and hands is a very common cause of concern as it has an aged appearance. There is a very strong desire in many to have their skin return to a smooth even toned complexion, unfortunately, treatment often results in disappointment as the condition and the person affected so poorly understands the treatments.

What causes pigmentation?

There is often no single cause identified but a combination of causative factors can often be seen in someone that is genetically pre-disposed to pigment formation.

Here is a list of some:

• Sun damage, acne, direct injuries, grazes, burns, anything that will cause inflamed skin.
• Hormones and changes of hormone levels, eg. in pregnancy, hormones in medications, contraceptives, HRT.
• Certain medications such as , tetracycline antibiotics, Valium, Dilantin, cosmetics with oxidized linoleic acid and salicylates, aging and free radicals from metabolism.

Try to identify some of these causative factors in your own condition, not all are avoidable but if they are then prevention is the best medicine. Therefore, the treatment of pigmentation can be a tough problem because of the complexity of the factors listed.

Treatments

Primarily, you must remove challenging factors identified above. Then you must decide that you will not bake your face in the sun ever again. Consider self-tanning lotions, if like a tanned look. Choose a cream, foundation or moisturizer with SPF 15+, which you must wear daily, even on overcast days. You must realize that there is no cure from your tendency to pigment but you can certainly treat the existing pigment and may remain free of it if you are committed to: avoiding aggravating factors, hiding from the sun, wearing sun block.

Next, there are several ways to address the existing problem. Daily use of Stimulant creams, eg. Glycolic acid, Tretinoic acid, Vitamin C, Azaelic acid and/or bleaching agents eg. tyroninase inhibitors Kojic acid, Hydroquinone can give excellent results. Combinations of these agents in one compound cream work well, as long as they are prepared with adequate concentrations. The mixture of Tretinoic acid and Hydroquinone appears to be very successful. However, it can be irritating to the skin and is, more easily tolerated if combined with a small dose of hydrocortisone added in as in Kligmans formula. This formulation has a 3-month shelf life and is available only on a doctor's prescription.

Persistent compliance is required for optimal treatment, rarely achieved as results are not apparent for over six weeks and it is so easy to give up half way through. Be cautious of extreme and glossy advertising from large cosmetic houses in fashion magazines that promise results from creams with unproven tiny concentrations of active ingredients or worse still with unproven ingredients. Moving up the line some of our clinic procedures can often offer more improvement that is definite.

Clinic procedures

More invasive treatments done in the clinic can make for quicker results. The conventional approach of frequent mild treatments is often wiser than one strong treatment. The treatments may result inflammation, which may risk stimulation of more pigment production therefore best results are achieved, when home care creams, are used in combination with the clinic treatments.

All over treatments to improve, the whole tone of the skin affected include:
Micro-dermabrasion, glycolic acid peels, TCA 10% peels, TCA 20 % peels, Jessners peels, or PCA peel (mixed Fruit acid, Citric acid, Lactic acid, Salicylic acid and Kojic acid).

They can all, be done on a 1-6 weekly basis. They have little recovery time and do not usually require any time off from work.

For the braver at heart or for those that have found the above frustratingly slow a TCA 35% peel is a medium peel and requires 7 -10 days down time.

Treatment of pigment spots on the skin:

TCA 35% applied with a cotton bud by an experienced practitioner can often produce excellent results. The spot will darken over a few days before gradually peeling leaving pinkness after 7 days. If looked after the pink area will gradually blend in with the surrounding skin tone over time. Often spots require three or more treatments before complete resolution.

Laser treatments for pigmentation and age spot.

Perceptive thermolysis of the unwanted pigment, can be achieved by, precisely applied beams of laser light of an appropriate wavelength and power. Our Medlite IV laser does an excellent job; ask for a further information leaflet about it. Similarly, to the TCA burn it will look darker for the following week and may require repeat treatments.

Fotofacial is one of the very latest technologies. A little gentler than laser, it combines light energy and radio frequency energy to target brown pigmentation and red facial veins. Ask for more information on this procedure.

Deeper peels or laser peels are not recommended for pigment problems on their own. It is not necessary to take the risk of deep peeling procedures when the methods described before will cure nearly 100% of problems.