Skin pigmentation disorders affect the color of your skin
that is blotchy, discolored, or darker or lighter than normal. Pigmentation
occurs in the skin when the body produces too little (hypopigmentation) or too
much (hyperpigmentation) melanin. Melanin is a pigment that creates skin, hair,
eye color and protects the skin by absorbing ultraviolet light.
Special cells in the skin make melanin and when these
special cells become unhealthy or damaged, it affects the production of the
melanin. Some pigmentation disorders affect just patches of skin and others
affect your entire body. Pigmentation disarranges influence fair patches of
skin.
These disorders can be localized or can diffusely spread
about the body. Some pigmentation disorders, such as liver spots, are common,
whereas others, such as albinism, are rare, affecting approximately 1 out of
every 17,000 people. With some disorders, the cause of dyspigmentation may be
readily identified as drug reactions, sun exposure, or inflammation; in other
cases, the etiology is not as clear. Most disorders can be diagnosed by
appearance. The image shown is a case of vitiligo, a hypopigmentation disorder
of unknown etiology.
If your body produces too much melanin, then your skin gets
darker. Addison's disease, Pregnancy,
and sun exposure all can make your skin darker. If your body produces too
little melanin, your skin gets lighter. Vitiligo is a condition that causes
patches of light skin and Albinism is a genetic condition affecting a person's
skin. A person with albinism may have no color, lighter than normal skin color,
or patchy missing skin color. Blisters, Infections, and burns can also cause
lighter skin.
Everybody wishes to have a perfect skin complexion with
ever-lasting youth and no matter how sure you are that your laugh lines
represent a well-lived life, it is very hard to say the same about those
not-so-subtle brown-colored patches on your face. This skin discoloration is
commonly called as skin pigmentation which is often a result of genetics, sun
exposure (UV rays), hormonal changes, pregnancy, medications (such as birth
control pills), skin aging and the wrong use of skin care products.
