Every skin is different of course but hormonal pigmentation tends to present itself as blotchy, brown patches or freckle-like spots (called macules) with an irregular border.
Symptoms Of Hyperpigmentation:
Symmetrical brown coloured patches appear on the face, neck, forearms in melasma. In PIH, patches appear on injured or inflamed areas of skin. Spots are usually black or light brown and may grow dark with exposure to sunlight.
Yes, it's possible that your melasma will go away on its own within a few months. However, it is not likely to go away while you're pregnant or taking hormone contraceptives. Take preventative steps like avoiding sunlight to keep your melasma from getting worse or, if it does fade away, to keep it from coming back.
Sun protection is the most important part of treatment since the pigment will continue to darken with exposure. Traditional methods used to remove melasma include chemical or acid peels, dermabrasion, bleaches, pulsed light and traditional laser treatments.
Have you ever wondered which hormone causes pigmentation? The underlying hormone responsible for triggering the melanocytes is melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH). This hormone increases the production of melanin, which is responsible for darkening your skin.
Melasma or chloasma are the most common conditions caused by hormonal imbalance. This is caused by an increase in estrogen and progesterone levels that in turn cause an over-production of melanin, especially when the skin is under direct exposure to bright sunlight.
Causes of hyperpigmentation include: Skin inflammation (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation) Use of certain drugs (such as minocycline, certain cancer chemotherapies, and birth control pills) Hormone system diseases such as Addison disease.
Three of the best vitamins for lightening dark spots are vitamin C, vitamin B12, and vitamin E. Vitamin C helps your skin produce more collagen while inhibiting the formation of melanin. Vitamin B12 also promotes collagen formation while supporting the growth of new skin cells.
In addition to its many other functions, estrogen helps control melanin production. Melanin is the pigment in your skin, hair, and eyes. If estrogen levels decrease, melanin production can increase. This leads to hyperpigmentation, commonly known as “age spots.”
Melasma is a common skin disorder. It most often appears in young women with brownish skin tone, but it can affect anyone. Melasma is often associated with the female hormones estrogen and progesterone.
Although it also is a type of condition characterized by darker patches of skin, melasma is differentiated from other forms of hyperpigmentation mainly by its cause; rather than just being sun-related, melasma is caused in part by hormonal changes within the body.
Pigmentation is the coloring of a person's skin. When a person is healthy, their skin color will appear normal. In the case of illness or injury, the person's skin may change color, becoming darker (hyperpigmentation) or lighter (hypopigmentation).
Your skin may get excessively dry due to hormonal imbalance. If any reproductive hormones like estrogen level fall, naturally, the sebum oil production decreases leading to dry skin. Your skin becomes rough and flaky. Dry skin indicates essential fatty acids and other important nutrient deficiency.
The deficiency of vitamin B12 can cause specific skin manifestations, such as hyperpigmentation, vitiligo, angular stomatitis, and hair and nail changes [1].
It has been shown that estrogens are capable of accelerating the synthesis of melanin, and that the action is a direct effect of the hormone itself, because the response occurs locally when the hormone is applied directly to the skin.
What triggers hyperpigmentation? Triggers include sun exposure, hormonal changes, and trauma to the skin, for example, due to acne or an injury. Picking at scabs and spots may make it worse. Some face creams can irritate the skin, leading to further hyperpigmentation.
Common causes of focal hyperpigmentation include injury, inflammation, phytophotodermatitis, lentigines, melasma, freckles, café-au-lait macules, and acanthosis nigricans. Common causes of widespread hyperpigmentation include melasma, drugs, cancers, and other systemic disorders.
Some cases of hyperpigmentation may never go away completely. If hyperpigmentation is caused by injury, then as the skin heals the discoloration will lessen as melanin is absorbed into the tissue surrounding the injury.
“During menopause, some women experience more pigmentation on their face, called melasma, which is modeled pigmentation on the cheeks, upper lip and forehead,” says Dr. Klein. “This is caused by a combination of hormonal changes and sun exposure.
Summary. High estrogen levels can cause symptoms such as irregular or heavy periods, weight gain, fatigue, and fibroids in females. In males, they can cause breast tissue growth, erectile dysfunction, and infertility.
Hyperpigmentation is a common condition that makes some areas of the skin darker than others. “Hyper” means more, and “pigment” means color. Hyperpigmentation can appear as brown, black, gray, red or pink spots or patches. The spots are sometimes called age spots, sun spots or liver spots.