Take good care of your skin! All you need to know about the skin discoloration process

The skin discoloration process, also known as hyperpigmentation, causes patches of skin to become darker than the surrounding skin, and this usually happens when the skin produces melanin in excess, the pigment that gives color to the skin.

is very common on skin of color, as darker skin tones already have a higher melanin content. Burns, bruises, acne, rashes, or other trauma to the skin can cause it to produce more melanin and lead to dark spots.

Types of hyperpigmentation include:

• age spots, also called “liver” spots or solar lentigines (symptoms: black spots that appear on the skin with sun overexposure)
• melasma (symptoms: large patches of darkened skin usually found on the face, forehead and stomach)
• post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (symptoms: spots of darkened skin that arise after an inflammatory skin condition such as eczema)

How to prevent skin’s discoloration

1. Use skincare products daily — Many skincare ingredients have tyrosinase-inhibiting effects, including some of the commonly used ‘actives’ you’re likely to own, such as vitamin C and retinol. Look out for retinoids (vitamin A), as they contain retinyl palmitate which does wonders if you encounter issues with redness, and avoid retinoic acid or Retin A if you have darker skin, but also for vitamin C which reduces the production of excessive melanin in conjunction with vitamin E that also has strong antioxidant actions (both of them reduce and protect the cells of the skin against future UV damage).
2. Use at-home skin treatments — Home-peels generally work by exfoliating the skin (to improve penetration of any products) and can have pigment-reduction benefits. Most home peels generally use higher concentrations of active ingredients than regular skincare, but lower than those used in professional treatments. A vast number of options are available for home peeling — from AHAs to retinoids and botanical peels — but approach all with caution.
3. Professional skin treatments — Peels are the most easily accessible treatment for all skin types. Commonest are AHA peels at higher strengths to those performed at home. AHAs, including mandelic, lactic, and glycolic acid, are often very beneficial at intermediate strengths when used repeatedly on the pigmentation of most types. AHA peels will usually be done once every month for four-to-six months for the best results. They can be combined with other treatments and skincare. IPL, meanwhile, works on the premise that high energy light will interact with a corresponding color target, causing it to heat up and break apart. With IPL used for hyperpigmentation, when the pigment is fragmented, it changes its molecular structure so it is removed by the immune system — as it is no longer recognised as the body’s melanin protein. Mesotherapy is another treatment that, when done on a regular basis, can be helpful in treating certain cases. Mesotherapy involves the very superficial injection of vitamin blends and skin-boosting ingredients such as hyaluronic acid into the deeper layers of the epidermis and upper dermis layer.