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Have you always wished you had perfect, clear skin without melasma?

Melasma is a common skin condition characterized by grayish-brown patches that appear primarily on the face. Melasma patches most commonly appear on the forehead, cheeks, nose, chin, and sometimes on the neck and arms. Melasma primarily affects women but can also affect men.  While most people dislike the look of melasma, it is a non-cancerous discoloration and that does not cause discomfort. Melasma is difficult to control due to outside factors, but it can be treated. Read one to learn more about melasma and how you can treat your skin discoloration.

Causes of Melasma

Melasma is often seen in women especially during pregnancy. Melasma is also known as the ‘mask of pregnancy’ when seen in women during gestation. Melasma is believed to be effected by hormones so women who are taking oral contraceptives or hormone therapy are also more prone to melasma. Some hormonal  birth control or hormone replacement therapy can make patients more succeptable to the sun and trigger melasma. Some triggers for melasma are sun exposure, hormone changes, and irritants.

The exact causes of melasma are unclear, but people with darker complexions, like those from Latin/Hispanic, North African, African-American, Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean descent, are reportedly more likely to get melasma. A common theory is that melasma occurs when melanocytes produce too much color and thus people of darker complexions have more active melanocytes in general. While this is a commonly accepted theory, melasma may be more noticeable in people with lighter complexions.

Prevention

Melasma is triggered by sun exposure so it’s important to wear sunscreen or sunblock. Even a small amount of unprotected sun exposure can trigger melasma or make existing melasma worse. Use a sunscreen that’s higher than 30 SPF or a sunblock with zinc or titanium dioxide. Since the cause of melasma is unknown, unfortunately melasma cannot be prevented. You can however prevent the triggers of melasma by staying out of the sun, protecting your skin from the sun, and reconsidering the use of hormonal therapy. Melasma that is triggered by pregnancy should clear up when a women is no longer pregnant.

Melasma Treatment in Scottsdale

There are treatments that can be done to lessen the appearance of the brown spots caused by melasma.

Chemical Peels for Melasma

Chemical peels are a fantastic way to treat multiple skin conditions like acne scars, sun spots, aging, and even melasma. Chemical peels are available at True Med Spa (https://mytruemedspa.com/skin-fitness/chemical-peels/) and our skin specialists are well qualified to select the proper peeling agent based upon the type of skin condition that you are trying to treat. The Melasma Peel at True Med Spa in Scottsdale effectively treats irregular pigmentations that are caused by hormonal imbalances after pregnancy, birth control pills or other hormonal medications. Over the course of treatment, this peel promotes brightening, lightening, and correcting the pigmentation by suppressing melanocytes which are what produce the discolorations.

The sun is damaging – there is no way around it. Getting a little bit of sun every once in a while is important. The sun helps the body produce Vitamin D which is critical for strong bones and overall well being. But unprotected sun exposure also promotes premature aging, especially through age spots and sun spots.

Signs of Sun Damage

If you spend a lot of time in the sun, with or without sunscreen, you may notice spots appearing on your skin over time. Freckles, age spots, sun spots, and melasma are all signs of sun damage.

Often presenting as flat spots on the skin, age or sun spots are unsightly to look at and can causes people to be self conscious. These spots are most prominent on the hands, neck, face, arms and any other areas that are commonly exposed to the sun. The number one cause of age spots and other sun damage is unprotected or underprotected exposure to the sun. The sun’s UV rays might give you that a nice brown glow but they are also damaging to the skin.

Preventing Sun Damage

You can prevent sun damage by protecting your skin from the sun. Use of sunscreen, sunblock, hats, sunglasses, and long clothing can help prevent sun damage. We recommend an SPF of at least 15 but ideally over 30 SPF to help keep sun spots from forming. If you can, avoid the sun during the middle of the day which is when the sun’s rays are at their most damaging.

Treating Sun Damage with IPL Photofacial

While you can prevent further age spots from forming with these tips, what about the ones you already have? There is good news! Treatment for sun damage is usually not medically necessary but many people chose to have these unsightly spots treated. Most sun damage can be treated by removing or reducing the brown spots with an IPL Photofacial.

At True Med Spa, we offer a revolutionary IPL Photofacial. Intense Pulsed Light, or IPL Photofacial. IPL works in a single or series of treatments and treats a wide range of skin discoloration conditions like age spots, freckles, sun spots, redness caused by rosacea, broken capillaries, and acne. Another benefit to photofacials is that the treatment helps boost collagen production, which will leave your skin looking and feeling firmer.**

How does IPL work to target sun spots?

IPL photofacials use short pulses of light to penetrate just below the skin’s surface where melanin resides. This process essentially targets melanin only and damages the melanin that is responsible for brown ‘age spots’ or ‘sun spots’ and also the blood vessels that are responsible for any redness. Your skin then works to fight back and repair the ‘damage’ caused by the light pulses and ends up leaving you with a more even skin tone. This entire process is called photorejuvenation and it causes the benefits of a photofacial to appear gradually over a few weeks after the treatment. You should see benefits within a few days of your first treatment but sometimes full effects will take several treatments.**

At True Med Spa we use the next phase of IPL technology called Advance Fluorescence Technology (AFT™). AFT enhances penetration to the skin without using excessive energy levels. This protects the top layer of the skin, resulting in safer and more effective outcomes during your treatments.

Find out if an IPL Photofacial can help treat your sun damage. Schedule a consultation with True Med Spa to see how we can remove your sun spots with an IPL Photofacial treatment.