HYPERPIGMENTATION - AGE and SUN SPOTS

Pigmentation, freckling, brown spots, age spots, sun spots, melasma: these are all terms related to discoloured skin, or what we call hyperpigmentation.

Melanin is the natural pigment that gives color to your skin. Hyperpigmentation occurs when the body produces excess melanin in response to UV exposure, hormonal fluctuations or trauma to the skin such as acne or scarring. This discolouration affects the majority of people - albeit in different degrees - regardless of ethnic background, skin color or age.

How Do I Know if I Have Hyperpigmentation?

Your skin may have blotchy, uneven areas known as diffuse hyperpigmentation, or well-demarcated patches of brown to gray discoloration, freckling or sun spots, known as localized hyperpigmentation.

Skincare Treatments

Traditional skincare therapies to treat hyperpigmentation include products with tyrosinase inhibitors, melanosome-transfer inhbitors, sunscreens and exfoliating ingredients. However, more aggressive “skin bleaching” treatments such as hydroquinone or steroids may be too narrow in their approach: they only effectively treat part of the problem, and they may not address issues such as diffuse hyperpigmentation and the improvement of overall facial color. Stronger bleaching agents can also be disruptive to facial appearance during treatment resulting in irritation, redness, peeling and/or hypopigmentation (loss of skin colour).

The best treatment for hyperpigmentation is combination therapy where different treatments, such as laser therapy, chemical peels and/or medical-grade skincare products containing clinically active ingredients, are able to target the excess melanin through different yet complementary methods.

If you have hyperpigmentation, make an appointment with one of our doctors to come up with the best treatment plan for your skin and its specific issues.