Hypopigmentation: What It Is & How To Treat It

Jan 22, 2020

Hypopigmentation: What It Is & How To Treat It

We’ve all heard of hyperpigmentation—dark spots and skin darkening caused by sun exposure,hormones, and age. But what’s hypopigmentation? You guessed it—it’s the loss of color in the skin. Hypopigmentation varies from small, white blotches on the skin to large swaths of skin that are noticeably lighter than the surrounding areas. Read on to find out more about these spots.

CAUSES

Hypopigmentation is caused by a lack of melanin, the pigment-producing protein that gives ourhair, skin and eyes color. Often, hypopigmentation is the result of skin inflammation or traumacaused by pimples, cuts, lesions, and scrapes. This type of hypopigmentation is called post-inflammatory hypopigmentation and occurs when pigmented cells are damaged or destroyed in the healing process. Although it affects both genders equally, people with darker complexions are more likely to experience hypopigmentation. Not all hypopigmentation is caused by skin trauma—other skin disorders that cause lightening include:

VITILIGO: A hereditary, skin-lightening condition that many experts believe to be anautoimmune disease. The rate of color loss can be unpredictable and varies from personto person.

PITYRIASIS ALBA: A common skin disorder among children that causes scaly, hypopigmented patches.

TINEA VERSICOLOR: A yeast infection common in humid climates that causes patchy, hypopigmented areas.

TREATMENTS

The recommended skin hypopigmentation treatment depends largely what caused it in the first place. For example, patients with tinea versicolorare usually treated with an anti-fungal cream, while vitiligo is often treated with steroids. Since post-inflammatory hypopigmentation is caused by trauma and inflammation, it’s important to treat the symptoms to prevent hypopigmentation from occurring in the first place. Protect your skin from irritants and inflammatory allergens. If you find your skin is having an inflammatory response, roll over the area with our Cryo Sculpting Roller™ , which cools and instantly soothes inflamed skin.

Other common treatments for post-inflammatory hypopigmentation include:

CORTICOSTEROID CREAMS: Topical corticosteroid treatments reduce inflammationand decrease skin lightening.

LASER THERAPY: Fraxel laser, Excimer laser, or Intense Pulsed Light treatments areall light-based procedures used to treat hypopigmentation.

SKIN BLEACHING: In rare cases, dermatologists may recommend skin-bleaching ingredients like hydroquinone to blend the hypopigmented areas with the unaffected areas.

About the Author

By Kerry Benjamin, California Licensed Aesthetician (Lic. #Z98459) & Founder of StackedSkincare. Kerry created the StackedSkincare Method — built on the belief that real results start with accelerating cell turnover and renewal, not adding more products. Her three-step approach — Speed it up. Slough it off. Protect it. — is the foundation of everything on this site. Featured in ELLE, Cosmopolitan, and Who What Wear.