Visit us on ...
Announcement
"Patients' Choice Award" by Vitals.com
Dr. Sam Naficy has been awarded the "Patients' Choice Award" by Vitals.com - a website dedicated to rating the quality of physicians across the country. Out of 720,000 physicians, only 5% received this honor.
Pigmentation problems
Skin pigmentation disorders affect the color of your skin. Melanin is a substance in your skin that gives skin its color. If your body makes too much melanin, the skin becomes darker (hyperpigmention). If your body makes too little melanin, the skin becomes lighter (hypopigmentation). There are many types of pigmentation disorders.
Age Spots
Age spots or liver spots are called solar lentigines. They are typically flat tan, brown or black spots on the face, hands, shoulders and arms (sun-exposed areas).
Melasma
Melasma presents as brown patches on the face of adults, common on the cheeks, forehead, nose, and upper lip. Precise cause of melasma is unknown, however hormonal status may be a trigger. Sun exposure is a known trigger. Also a positive family history increases the risk of melasma.
Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation
Darkening of the skin in an area of prior injury caused by an increase in melanin during the healing process. This is commonly seen with acne but may also occur after laser procedures, IPL, or surgery.
Post-inflammatory hypopigmentation
Lightening of the skin in an area of prior injury or infection. The melanocytes (cells responsible for producing pigment) are destroyed in the area during the healing process. For example certain scars heal with hypopigmentation and certain skin infections result in loss of skin pigment.
Treatment Options
There are a number of treatment options for hyperpigmention while hypopigmentation is difficult to treat. Certain types of hyperpigmention such as melasma are more resistant and may require a number of treatment modalities.
- Sun avoidance
- Sunscreen
- Discontinuing hormone therapy
- Chemical peels (trichloroacetic acid or TCA, glycolic acid)
- Skin lightening agents (Obagi, hydroquinone, triple bleaching creams)
- Intense pulse light (IPL) such as Fotofacial
- Laser resurfacing or fractional laser resurfacing
- Q-switched lasers (Alexandrite, Yag, Ruby)
|
