April 26, 2021

Melasma: Treatment Options Explained

What is Melasma?

Often known as the mask of pregnancy, melasma is a pigment condition that affects women of all age groups. The condition causes dark, discoloured patches on the skin. It’s a condition that can last for years. Generally speaking, melasma isn’t painful and nor is it a concern to your health, however due to it’s impact on one’s appearance, it may cause a lot of anxiety. The mental issues are more when there is the skin discoloration is particularly visible.

Symptoms of Melasma

Melasma’s patches of discoloration are easily noticed. The patches are darker than the usual skin color. Typically, they occur on the face with often matching marks on both sides of the face. Other areas of the body that are often exposed to the sun can also develop melasma.

Brown colored patches usually appear on the:

• Cheeks
• Forehead
• Bridge of the nose
• Chin
• Neck & forearms

Melasma & Pregnancy

Melasma is often tied to pregnancy because during pregnancy when the hormones are in flux, melasma often shows up. Generally, it is said to be triggered when there is an increase in hormones, due to this, Melasma is also common in women who begin or stop taking birth control or even hormone replacement therapies.

Some Other Causes That Can Trigger Malasma

Melasma can occur due to sun exposure too so protecting the skin from harmful UV light is always a good idea. When caused by sun exposure, even then melasma can often stick around for years. Also, it is not totally clear what causes melasma. Dark Skinned individuals are usually more at risk of developing melasma than those with fair skin. Stress and thyroid disease are also thought to be the causes of melasma.

Melasma: The Treatment Options.

When it comes to melasma treatment options. The one-size-fits-all approach simply cannot work. Every case is different and at Cult Aesthetics by Enhance, Dr. Jaspreet recommends a combination of treatments that are tailor-made for the specific case. This is done because certain treatment options can cause irritation or inflammation for a specific individual, while not have any adverse effect on another. So, a careful construction of the treatment plan is a must.

Some simple treatment options are outlined below;

Compounded topical ointments for home-use. These ointments generally include prescription-grade ingredients like Vitamin C, Hydroquinone, Kojic Acid & Tretinoin. While hydroquinone (a bleaching agent) is considered effective, its use is also quite controversial since in higher doses, one can only use it for a few months and not longer than that. Other promising topical options are tranexamic acid, niacinamide and alpha-hydroxy acids. In recent times, use of tranexamic acid is also present in oral medication form.

In-Clinic treatment options for Melasma.

To reduce discoloration, Dr. Jaspreet can provide a variety of treatment options that are performed at Cult Aesthetics by Enhance. These treatment options include:

Microneedling: (Also called collagen induction therapy or CIT) Microneedling stimulates the body’s natural healing process to promote the production of new collagen. Ultimately leading to a smoother, tighter and more youthful looking skin.

Microdermabrasion: A more aggressive approach than chemical peels as in this, we physically abrade the outer layers of the skin’s surface. The procedure begins with a thorough cleansing after which a spray of small crystals polish away the outermost layer of the dull and damaged skin. Ultimately stimulating collagen growth.

Laser Therapy: Skin is targeted with short bursts of intense light, unwanted pigments are broken into smaller particles and these particles are eliminated naturally through the normal body processes.

Chemical Peels: Considered to address a range of skin concerns depending on the type and strength of the specialized combination of chemical exfoliants applied to the patient’s face. At Cult Aesthetics, chemical peels are used effectively against melasma.

To learn more about these treatment options in-depth, simply connect with us at +91-8826141232.