Different Types of Melasma and Ways to Treat it Effectively
Author: Neil Roth
Source: ezinearticles.com
What Is Melasma
Melasma is a type of skin disorder in which dark pigmentation develops on the surface if the skin. This skin pigmentation though are more prominent on face and neck, they sometimes appear on other exposed body parts. This skin condition, though has no medical complication, it is a great cosmetic concern. The peculiarity of this skin condition is that it affects women more even though some men do have facial pigmentation due to melasma. It usually affects person with dark skin. So usually persons of Asian and Hispanic origin are susceptible to this skin condition.
Cause Of Melasma
Even though no exact cause can be made responsible for melasma, following are the usual suspects for creating this skin condition.
1. Genetic factors.
2. Over exposure to the ultra violet ray of the sun without the protection of proper sunscreen.
3. Hormonal imbalance. This can be either due to pregnancy or oral contraceptive pills.
4. Allergic reaction to certain cosmetics.
5. Reaction to prolonged use of certain medication.
Different Types of Melasma
Melasma can be differentiated in two ways. It can be according to the severity of the pigmentation or the spread of the pigmentation. When the classification is done according to the severity or depth of pigmentation, melasma can be of the following four types.
- Epidermal Melasma: In this condition, only the superficial upper layer if the skin is affected with pigmentation. So this type of melasma is easier to treat.
- Dermal Melasma: In this case the skin pigmentation is deep in the inner layer of skin, hence difficult to treat. In fact dermal melama may need chemical peel or laser treatment for effective fading of the pigmentation marks.
- Mixed Epidermal and Dermal Melasma: In this case both type of pigmentation is found on the skin. This type of melasma is very difficult to treat and may require laser treatment or intense pulsed light.
- Inapparent Melasma: This type of melasma is found in very dark skinned persons. In this case the skin condition is very difficult to detect.
Skin pigmentation due to melasma is usually a combination of the above. These skin conditions are normally not found as a single type.
Melasma can also be differentiated according to the spread of pigmentation on the skin.
1. Centrofacial: In this case pigmentation is most prominent on the frontal part of the face.
2. Malar: In this type of melasma, pigmentation affects cheeks and nose.
3. Mandibular – In this type of skin condition, the chin area gets pigmented prominently.
But whatever may be the type of pigmentation; those dark patches really spoil the facial beauty. They also cause a lot of stress as it is very difficult to find a course of treatment that is effective. If you are looking for a way to remove facial pigmentation effectively and permanently have a look at this article on melasma treatment in my blog on Lip Care. This article tells you about tips on how to remove any kind of facial pigmentation permanently using some common herbs and natural ingredients.