Prestige Medispa / Pigmentation
Pigmentation: four kinds, and why depth decides everything
Skin makes a pigment called melanin, and melanin is what gives skin its colour. Pigmentation happens when one part of the skin makes more of it than the skin around it.
What sets it off
Three things, most of the time: sun, hormones, and inflammation that has just healed, such as acne. It is not dirt, and it cannot be scrubbed off.
The four kinds
Freckles
Small light brown spots, usually across the cheeks and nose. They come with your genetics, so they are not a sign of damaged skin. They darken after sun and fade a little without it.
Solar lentigo, sun spots
Larger than freckles, with clearer edges, and they do not fade on their own out of the sun. They accumulate after years of exposure, so they usually appear on the forehead, upper cheeks and the backs of the hands.
Melasma
Broader patches, usually symmetrical, so the left and right sides of the face look alike. It is tied to hormones, so it often appears during pregnancy, after giving birth, or after starting hormonal medication. This is the most stubborn kind, because part of its pigment sits in the deeper layer.
Post-acne marks
The dark marks left after acne settles. Many people think these are scars. They are not. A scar is a change in the surface of the skin, while this is only colour, and colour fades on its own even if slowly.
Depth decides everything
The difference between these is not the size of the patch. It is how deep the pigment sits.
Pigment gathered in the upper layer lifts more easily, because that layer renews itself anyway. Pigment that has sunk into the deeper layer sits where skin does not clear it naturally, which is why melasma takes far longer than a sun spot that looks similar in the mirror.
A skin analysis is looking for that depth. Two people with patches that look the same can be given very different timelines once their skin has been read.
Worth saying early
Melasma can return. It is tied to hormones and sun, and neither stops when treatment ends. What is realistic is keeping it controlled and light, not erasing it once and for all.
Sunscreen is half the work. Without it, skin simply remakes the pigment that was just lifted.
Do not scrub. Friction causes inflammation, and inflammation makes more pigment. Plenty of the cases that reach us got darker through the effort to clean them.
How long it takes
Pigmentation forms slowly, so it fades slowly. Post-acne marks usually show change first, and melasma is the slowest and asks for the most patience. If the marks are coming from acne that is still active, the acne is handled first, which is on the acne page.
Frequently asked
What is the difference between freckles, sun spots, melasma and post-acne marks?
Freckles are small spots that come with genetics and darken in sun. Sun spots are larger with clearer edges and build up over years of exposure. Melasma is symmetrical patching tied to hormones that reaches the deeper layer. Post-acne marks are the colour left after acne settles, and they are not scars.
Can melasma be removed permanently?
Melasma can return, because it is tied to hormones and sun and neither stops when treatment ends. What is realistic is keeping it controlled and light.
Are post-acne dark marks the same as scars?
No. A scar is a change in the surface of the skin. Post-acne marks are only colour, and colour fades on its own even if slowly.
Does sunscreen really matter?
Yes, it is half the work. Without it, skin remakes the pigment that was just lifted.
Read more: acne, acne scars, pigmentation, hair removal, and the celebrities treated with us.
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