Skin discoloration, also known as hyperpigmentation, is a condition that causes your skin to become darker than its natural color. The most common types of hyperpigmentation are melasma, age spots, and liver spots. It can be caused by various factors, including genetics, lifestyle, medications, and disease. Atur Kasha DO is a skin health specialist and can help address skin discoloration.
Here are the causes and treatment options for skin discoloration.
What are the causes of skin discoloration?
Vitiligo
The most common type of discoloration that occurs on the body is vitiligo. Vitiligo causes white patches to appear on the body in areas where there normally would be a dark color. Different degrees of discoloration can range from a very light lightening to complete loss of pigmentation. Vitiligo can affect anywhere from one small area to large body sections, including the face and hands.
Cancer treatment
Cancer treatment is the most common reason for skin discoloration. Skin discoloration can be caused by radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Radiation therapy is meant to target cancer cells, but it also affects healthy cells in its path. Chemotherapy drugs are targeted toward cancerous cells within the body, but these drugs also affect healthy cells as well as cancerous ones. Both of these treatments cause damage to healthy skin cells, which can lead to skin discoloration.
Sunburn
Sunburn is one of the most common causes of discolored skin. Sunburn occurs when a small amount of damage is done to the top layer of your skin (epidermis) by exposure to ultraviolet B rays from the sun. This damage causes redness, pain, and peeling in sunburned skin. Various shades of red are possible, including mild redness or severe redness that extends beyond normal boundaries on your body and possibly even blisters. Skin that has been affected by sunburn may remain discolored for several weeks after exposure to the sun due to the impact on melanin production by UVB rays from exposure to the sun.
Trauma
This also causes skin discoloration and typically resolves within two to three weeks. The discoloration is caused by bruising and changes in blood flow to the area as a result of trauma to the skin.
Pregnancy
This is a key cause of skin discoloration, which usually disappears after birth. Skin discoloration can also result from giving birth via c-section or getting pregnant while using birth control pills. In some cases, pregnancy can contribute to hypopigmentation or hyperpigmentation (under or over-production of melanin).
What is the best treatment option for skin discoloration?
There are several options for treating skin discoloration, but one of the most effective treatments is using a laser. Laser treatment has been around since the 1970s and can be used on a number of different types of discoloration. It works by targeting the pigmentation in the skin with an intense beam of energy. This causes damage to affected cells, which stimulates the body’s healing processes to begin repairing any damage. Over time, this process results in a reduction or even complete elimination of the discoloration in that area.
Lasers are fast becoming one of the go-to treatments for many different types of discoloration. They are considered safe and effective, as they do not involve any chemicals or invasive procedures. Because they target only specific areas, there is less risk involved than with other methods such as dermabrasion or chemical peels. The results are much more long-lasting than these other techniques, which typically only treat surface damage. Red spots, splotches, patches, and blotches. It doesn’t matter what you call them, but skin discoloration can be a very difficult thing to live with. As many as half of all adult females have some degree of pigmentation change on their skin, and most people with these marks can’t do anything about it. Skin discoloration is a problem that many people face; it can create an unsightly appearance, and it needs the attention of professionals from Desert West Vein & Surgery Center.
