What is Skin Darkening?
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Hyperpigmentation or darkened skin is the formation of patches of skin that turn darker than the surrounding region. Hyperpigmentation may also mostly involve the total skin surface of the human body. The color alteration happens when there is an overproduction of melanin, the pigment typically present within the skin, creating deposits that darken the skin color. Blackened skin can develop in people of different origins. Melasma is increased skin pigmentation that usually happens on sun-exposed parts of darkly complexioned people.
What Causes Dark Patches on Skin?
Essential Guide on Skin Darkening
Usually, darkened skin appears as fairly small spots, known as either lentigines or liver spots, which can be due to sun damage acquired over a long period. Exposure to UV rays is one of the most prevalent sources of darkened skin. Energy from the sun rays of the sun is absorbed by melanin as a healthy way to protect the skin from overexposure. It can also darken areas that already have hyperpigmentation.Sometimes darkened skin occurs due to a hormonal change for example, during pregnancy or with the use of birth control pills. Your skin may also get darker as a result of a particular disorder, like Addison’s disease, which is diagnosed by decreased hormone production by the adrenal glands. Skin darkening can also result from a combination of sun exposure and an allergic reaction, usually to a specific chemical or plant.In other instances, darkened skin may be temporary, for example, while using birth control pills or during pregnancy. You can lighten some forms of hyperpigmentation by using lasers or medications; other types can disappear when you change your medicine or a change in levels of hormones.Skin darkening is not a symptom of a severe condition. However, in other cases, it can be a sign of another disorder that will need treatment. Look for regular medical care if you have darkened skin and are also experiencing fatigue, loss of appetite, or sudden depression; if the shaded regions are also present in your mouth or other mucous membranes; or if you are suffering from constipation or diarrhea. If your darkened skin is a cause of concern or is persistent, you should consult a skin specialist such as a dermatologist.
What Causes Discoloured Skin Patches?
Causes of Dark Spots On your Skin
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You Have Vitiligo
If Pavlides’ symptoms are similar to yours – or if you have a loss of pigmentation elsewhere, for example in the hair on your body or head or inside your mouth- visit a doctor who specializes in treating vitiligo. It is because a lot of doctors wrongly believe there are no solutions and don’t understand the condition’s psychological impact on an individual’s life. Dermatologists recommend that you shouldn’t ignore vitiligo. Experts added since the condition – which Michael Jackson was suffering from but healed by eliminating the pigment from other parts of his skin surface rather than trying to restore color to the vitiligo patches – often corresponds with other autoimmune complications such as thyroid disorders and can make people’s skin more prone to sun damage.
You’re Pregnant
Even though vitiligo leads to a loss of pigmentation in the skin, the brown spots on your skin surface – sometimes known as ‘the mask of pregnancy’ – seems to cause some skin cells to secrete more pigment. It usually appears as brown or gray-brown patches on the face, according to the (AAD) American Academy of Dermatology. The vast majority (some 90 %) of patients with the condition are women since it seems to have a hormonal influence. Pregnancy worsens the situation, birth control makes it worse, and the same goes for Ultraviolet rays.Even though having the baby, stopping the birth control or staying away from ultraviolet rays may clear up the condition, it often recurs, specialists say. For many individuals, it’s a daily hassle. However, with expert supervision, chemical peels, bleaching creams, and laser therapies can assist in masking flare-ups.
You Mixed Limes and Sunshine
Are you getting panic due to dark spots around your hands and mouths, especially after a vacation? Well, chances are, the diagnosis is phytophotodermatitis, a skin reaction to ultraviolet rays and a chemical in lemon and other citrus fruits for example oranges and lime. While the first reaction – whether burning or blisters – is often dismissed as either allergies or sunburn, if noticed at all, the lingering pigment changes usually disappear within a few months. It’s prevalent in the spring and summer months because individuals make mixed drinks with lemon, get some juice on their skin surface and then go out to bask in the sun. That’s the reason the condition is often known as “Mexican Beer Dermatitis” and “Club Med Dermatitis.”
Suffering From a Form of Eczema
Another disease that is likely to bring patients – mostly children – to dermatologists during warm-weather months is pityriasis alba, which first results in red, scaly patches before leaving lighter spots on the skin surface, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology. According to Dermatologists, parents get worried that their children have vitiligo. However, the condition seems to be a feature of eczema that merely’s more apparent on tanned skin. The best way to treat the disease is through using an effective sunscreen. If the condition is more severe, a topical steroid: “You stop eczema, and the pigmentation comes back.”
It’s a Remnant of Past Skin Damage
The technical term is “post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.” To the layperson, it merely means darker skin in areas you were once suffering from acne, allergic reactions, an injury or any other kind of skin swelling, perhaps from another condition such as psoriasis. Here, too, the first-line defense is treating the underlying inflammation.
It’s Fungus
Before you react in disgust, remember that this potential is pretty much harmless – and sometimes not even conspicuous. Tinea versicolor, a common fungal infection each time the natural yeast on our skin overgrows, tends to extend in the hot, humid summer months – or among individuals who were within these climates. Most of the time it’s red or brown or white, and it’s in the regions where people sweat. Your solution is an anti-fungal treatment procedure.
You Could Be Suffering From Addison’s Disease
Addison’s disease is an adrenal – not skin – a condition in which the adrenal glands don’t produce enough of some hormones. Individuals who say, their skin is a lot darker but didn’t bask the sun,'” may be suffering from the condition and should visit his or her primary care doctor, who might prescribe oral medications to assist in replacing the missing hormones.
You Have Acanthosis Nigricans
This condition describes the thickening and darkening of skin folds, like those in your neck or under your breasts. It could just be because you’re a little overweight, however, that it could also be a sign of diabetes. However, if blood and other tests come up okay, the disease can be treated using lotions or other agents that assist in softening the skin.
You Have Cancer
Cancer is, of course, the very least for oddly-colored skin surface. Luckily, it’s also part of the rarest of pigmentation complications. Individuals that have melanoma and realize that their skin is turning slate blue. That’s a terrible sign since it is a sign that the melanoma is carcinogenic and has traveled throughout the body. If you have moles that alter color, size or shape, too, visit a dermatologist asap.
