Pigmentation often refers to as the colouring of the skin. Skin pigmentation disorders cause changes to the colour of your skin. Melanin is made by cells in the skin and is the pigment responsible for your skin’s colour. Hyperpigmentation is a condition that causes your skin to darken.
There are several types of hyperpigmentation, the common ones being melasma, sunspots, and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.
- Melasma. Melasma is believed to be caused by hormonal changes and may develop during pregnancy. Areas of hyperpigmentation can appear on any area of the body, but they appear most commonly on the stomach and face.
- Sunspots. Also called liver spots or solar lentigines, sunspots are common. They’re related to excess sun exposure over time. Generally, they appear as spots on areas exposed to the sun, like the hands and face.
- Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. This is a result of injury or inflammation to the skin. A common cause of this type is acne.
Treating hyperpigmentation, we need to be concerned about how we protect melanin in the skin. Melanin, however, protects us from the sun and all other types of light although it is also the culprit causing hyperpigmentation. Therefore, it is of outmost importance to protect and preserve melanin in the skin. If not, human being will get over sensitive to UV and other types if light that will spike unnecessary inflammation in the skin that will breakdown collagen and cause premature aging, causing Post inflammatory Hyperpigmentation and can finally lead to skin cancer.
It is therefore part of the DrK product philosophy for treating hyperpigmentation that we will preserve and protect the natural melanin production process and only focus on the cells that are responsible for the over production of melanin (hyperpigmentation). Most of the time it is also these cells that experience the biggest inflammatory response due to environmental and lifestyle factors.
So as part of the DrK treatment routine to address two aspects very seriously and that is; 1. Understanding the substance melanin and its pro and cons and adjust the treatment according in order not to interfere with the natural melanin process 2. Reduce inflammation in the skin at all cost.
Hyperpigmentation will always be a very stubborn skin condition to treat but the only effective way to do so is to take the above 2 mentioned factors into consideration.