Pigmentation or hyperpigmentation is a term that we use to describe dark spots or patches or even general darkening of the skin in the upper layers of the skin. We have certain cells which are pigment cells and are called melanocytes and these produce a certain pigment called melanin this is evenly distributed in the skin and gives all of us the color that we normally possess.
We can get darkening of the skin due to many factors both external and internal at any time in our lives, the most common external cause of pigmentation is ultraviolet radiation or sunlight and one of the commonest internal causes is hormones especially in women any of these factors can increase the pigment cells in the skin or activates to produce more melanin.
There are many common types of pigmentation freckles its sports melasma post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation etc these often caused a cosmetic problem and hence require treatment freckles are a typical common response to sunlight and you can see them as light brown spots on the face and exposed parts of the body they have often seen in fair-skinned individuals and from very young ages they can be effectively prevented by Goodson’s cleaning habits.
Spots also called antigens are darker spots and these are often seen as we grow older after the age of 40. Melasma is a kind of pigment that shows up most commonly on the cheeks in the form of brownish or grayish brown patches which are sharply defined they can also come upon the forehead and the chin two main factors causing melasma are sunlight and hormones and it is more common in women very often melasma appears either during or post-pregnancy often we find pigmentation being left behind after we develop boils or other infections eczemas other allergies injuries etc. On the skin and this is something that we call post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation it gets left behind because there is some inflammation in that part of the skin there are certain cosmetics perfumes and other allergens which can own their own leave dark patches on the skin and we call this pigmented contact dermatitis another common cause of patchy pigmentation is aging itself and this is because of the effect of ultraviolet radiation or sunlight on the skin.