Pigmentation

Skin Concern:

What is pigmentation?

Skin pigmentation is when parts of your skin, often on areas of your body that are exposed such as hands and face, start to darken.

The effects of sun damage take years to manifest themselves. Quite how many years depends on the extent of your sun exposure, your skin tone (paler skins suffer most quickly) and your lifestyle. Eating a healthy diet that is rich in antioxidants slows down the gradual damage within your skin, for example, while smoking accelerates it.

By far the most common sun-induced pigment changes are freckles (solar lentigo). A freckle is caused when the skin’s pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) are damaged, leading to enlargement of the blemish. Larger freckles, also known as age spots, typically appear on the backs of hands, chest, shoulders, arms, and upper back. While age spots are frequently seen in older adults, they are not age-related as their name suggests but a consequence of sun injury.

What causes pigmentation?

Sun exposure is responsible for most of the visible ageing of your skin and skin pigmentation — far more than all other factors combined.

Overexposure to the sun can also slow down the production of collagen, causing the skin to sag and wrinkles to form. The more your skin is exposed to the sun, the more the collagen and elastin in the deeper layers are broken down, giving less support to the underlying muscles as well as the skin’s surface.

How is pigmentation treated?

The best treatment(s) is recommended by your nurse or laser therapist, depending on the type of pigmentation concern you have. We treat pigmentation with our Harmony Clear Lift Q-switch laser (Wellington only) to target the lesions or have a global treatment for photo-ageing + pigmentation. We offer specialised peels or infusions with MeLine (from Innoaesthetics), using either sonophoresis or dermal needling. We now offer a treatment using 2 modalities to treat pigmentation, this is called the Chicago pigmentation treatment. This facial treatment uses our laser to target the pigmentation spots and dermal needling (or sonophoresis) to infuse MeLine into the skin, to de-pigment the skin.

Book a 20-minute skin consultation with our RNs or therapists to discuss & plan the best treatment for you.

Pigmentation

What is pigmentation?

What causes pigmentation?

How is pigmentation treated?

Electroporation

Vascular

Harmony ClearLift Laser

Skin Peels

Concerns We Treat

Acne

Spider Veins

Facial Redness

Ageing

Pigmentation

Scarring

Fungal Infections

Unwanted Hair