Let’s talk about pigmentation.
Black skin is peculiar when healing from skin diseases. This is because most times we either heal with post inflammatory hyperpigmentation (darker than the original skin color) or post inflammatory hypopigmentation (lighter than the original skin color).
Whether hyper or hypo pigmentation…there is really none that is palatable to the black skin. This is because the pigmentation appears conspicuous on the skin. Really obvious whether lighter or darker.
For Caucasians, most heal with hypopigmentation and this blends with their skin most times
Of the two types of pigmentation, hyperpigmentation is usually easier to treat. For hypopigmentation, you almost always have to leave it to nature to do its work or you camouflage it with makeup while nurturing the skin.
So I will focus on hyperpigmentation. I’m talking about this because I’ve realised that some people did not even set out to bleach their skin, it inadvertently happened because they were trying to clear one spot or the other.
There are two types of hyperpigmentation. Epidermal and dermal. Recall that I mentioned that the skin has 2 major layers. Epidermis and dermis (From top to bottom). There’s a third layer called hypodermis which is below the dermis and is mainly composed of fat tissue.
So if the hyperpigmentation is epidermal, it is EASIER to correct than when it is dermal. This makes common sense because the epidermis is the one close to the surface and it would be easier to remove any ‘stain’ on it. If a pigmentation is dermal, the honest truth is that LASER is the best way to get it out or you leave it to time and nature to help your skin to repair itself.
How do you recognize the one that is dermal from the epidermal? Highly unlikely that if you’re not trained in management of skin conditions you’ll be able to recognize it.
What happens with pigmentation is that if you keep applying ‘spot removal creams’ to remove it and you’re not sure if its dermal or epidermal, you’ll cause more harm than good. If it is dermal (deep down), all you’ll be doing is peeling the top layer of the skin(epidermis) and making the spot MORE obvious.
Natural ingredients like turmeric and lemon that have become the rave of the moment will do nothing for a pigmentation that is dermal. Before you apply those organic things…be sure that you’re not dealing with something deep down in the skin. If not…the surrounding skin around the spot will keep getting fairer while the spot you’re trying to get rid of will become more obvious and you risk looking like a dalmatian.
Turmeric, lemon and all the widely proclaimed natural ingredients causes epidermal lightening. You can get away with using them if you don’t have any spots on your skin or if those spots are not dermal.
Be careful when you’re dealing with pigmentation on the black skin. Lest you end up with much more than you bargained for.
Well done if you read this to the very end and you didn’t get confused.
If you did…. I’ll be here to answer any questions you may have.
“He who has health, has hope; and he who has hope, has everything.”
--- THOMAS CARLYLE ---
Pigmentation and the black skin
08.12.2020 /