Hypopigmentation is loss of color in skin often associated with illness or injury. With hyperpigmentation skin cells produce greater quantities of melanin which causes a darker hue over affected areas. Where skin is observed as lighter in it is an indication of hypopigmentation caused by a reduction in melanin and is associated with skin damage, albinism and vitiligo. There are three main conditions associated with hypopigmentation:
• Traumas to skin, skin infection, blisters, burns and other occurrences may cause loss of pigmentation in a localized area. Often pigment loss following injury recovers its melanin levels and while recovery may take time, this type of hypopigmentation is temporary. General cosmetic treatment can be used to cover affected areas.
• Vitiligo is evidenced by the appearance of white, smooth patches across any area of the face and body. It is thought to be an autoimmune disorder where the cells are damaged. There is no known cure for Vitiligo yet some Cuban medical institutes, herbalists and Chinese practitioners use the word ‘cure’ to described the effectiveness of their treatment procedures. Western medics use several treatments for this type of hypopigmentation, including surgery, corticosteroid creams and ultraviolet light treatments.
• Alibinism is caused by an abnormal gene that is known to restrict production of melanin and this complete lack of pigmentation affects the overall appearance of the carrier in light skin, white-blonde hair and grey eye color. Again, there is no cure for this disorder but albinos are far more prone to cancers caused by sun damage and are advised to use sunscreen at all times.
The skin cells that create melanin are called melanocytes and where white scarring appears it is an indication that the melanocyte production is impaired. Impairment creates a mild form of fibrosis where the excessive scarring has prevented melanocyte cells on the skin’s surface from producing melanin. This is the cause of heavy white scar tissue. Treatment for white scarring and hypopigmentation can include dermatological products which when applied restores the skin’s production of melancotyes.
Other known treatments include laser and chemical body resurfacing. Studies suggest such treatments have produced effective stimulation of melanocyte production and patches or blotches that previously appeared white are blended back to the skin’s natural color. Since white scarring is known to be very difficult to cure, prevention of hypopigmentation after injury is by far the best solution by using sun screening, proper bandaging and support of a medical practitioner.
Vitiligo is the subject of many studies into effective treatment of hypopigmentation since it produces a patchy disfiguration of the skin’s surface that causes great physical and psychological embarrassment to sufferers. Treatments range from injecting melaconytes transferred from a normal area of skin to the defective site to application of properties reduced from the human placenta at one institute that has continued to promote this treatment for over twenty years. Other studies promote the carefully monitored application of topical steroid ointments, immunomodulating drugs that suggest this disorder is rooted in a defective autoimmune response. Still further hypopigmentation treatment includes the application of topical psoralen photochemotherapy and ultraviolet light which has proved to help the return of skin color. Further remedies described by the Chinese medicine practitioners include dietary and environmental changes to regulate the Qi, activate good circulation and body drainage to strengthen the body’s resistance.
The Chinese approach seems to include the permanent maintenance of a better mental state to prevent relapse as well as maintenance of a healthy supply of special Chinese herbal preparations. Other herbal cures and treatment oils have reached the market claiming to have an 85% success rate with hypopigmentation. All treatments warn that the effects of any skin remedies are not immediate. It seems the personality profile of a Vitiligo or skin scarred patient must include outstanding patience in the face of humiliating deformities.
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