As many of you are aware pigmentation is one of the most complex skin conditions to treat, our Australian climate is beautiful but also can be quite harsh on the skin, so this blog is for those of you who have tried everything to treat your pigmentation and are to yet to see results and for those of you who want to protect your skin against future pigmentation surfacing. There really is not one simple solution or blanket approach when it comes to the treatment of pigmentation, and it certainly does require a multistep process and commitment and compliance is essential to not only achieve these results but also to sustain results. `

Skin pigment known as melanin is produced by a skin cell called a melanocyte. Melanin acts as a natural sunscreen for our skin therefore the more the skin is exposed to sunlight the more melanin will be produced to try to protect the skin against harmful ultraviolet rays. When we see hyperpigmentation which is the dark patches of pigment on the skin, this is caused by an excess production of melanin. Prior to the pigment surfacing at a superficial layer where it can be seen by the naked eye, there is cascade of events that occur beforehand throughout the skins underlying tissues.

Other aggravating factors besides sun exposure that can affect pigmentation include immunological conditions, genetic predispositions, certain medications, hormonal imbalances, pregnancy, trauma to the skin this includes inappropriate or overly aggressive skin treatments (some lasers, chemical peel), wrongly prescribed or misused products, fragrances this includes essential oils because they make the skin become more photosensitive especially when used in conjunction with UV exposure. There are also various different types of pigmentation therefore it is so important to go through a thorough consultation to make a correct diagnosis and gain a thorough understanding of each individuals contributing factors so that a personalised protocol can be made to ensure the best possible treatment outcome.

Going back to the melanocyte, melanocytes do not have a stem cell resource, because they come from neural crest, so this means what you have when you are born is what you have for life. Which is why it is so important to protect these little guys preferably from a young age.For the melanocyte to function healthily it requires essential fatty acids, without adequate amounts of EFA’s the dendrites (little arms) of the melanocyte become malformed and disperse uneven pigment through the skin’s spinosum layer. The melanocyte faces many cellular challenges throughout its lifespan in order to maintain a healthy defence against external factors, this is why when treating pigmentation the initial focus must be on restoration of the epidermis which is our skins defence layer. This is unfortunately a heavily overlooked and undermined step in the treatment of pigmentation, it is really important to remember because without proper preparation of the epidermis we are not going to achieve optimal results with our intervention because the skin will not have the ability to support and defend itself let alone correct itself. This is sometimes when we see with clients who have done a lot of laser or peels to remove the superficial pigmentation but not treated the underlying tissues or rebuilt this barrier, the skin is then exposed and will be more susceptible to which is why the pigment often returns and more aggressively, if not treated in a holistic way.

When treating pigmentation it is imperative to start on a base routine to repair the skins barrier and when we achieve an intact line of defence, we can start to reduce free radical damage by introducing specific antioxidants to a clients skin diet. From here we can create customised formulations to intervene with the 5 very complex oxidative stages of melanogenesis with our active ingredients and potentially introduce skin needling into the clients treatment plan for more elevated results.