Hyperpigmentation. It’s not something to be ashamed of. It’s not something to hide. In fact, 5 million people in the US are affected by it.
That’s right, we are talking about hyperpigmentation in your nether regions. Darkness around the bikini area is more common than you may think.
Hyperpigmentation are the darkened patches and spots on the skin. There are 3 different general categories of hyperpigmentation: melasma, sunspots, and post-inflammatory.
Melasma is most apparent on women’s stomachs and faces due to hormone changes and pregnancy. Sunspots are essentially liver spots, solar lentigines in medical terms, that appear gradually from sun exposure on the hands and face. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation presents itself as those pesky spots that stay around from active acne.
"Now that I know what hyperpigmentation is, how do I treat it?"
First, let’s try to isolate the cause of your hyperpigmentation. While hyperpigmentation is a cosmetic issue with no harmful effects, there are situations when it is a symptom of a deeper medical condition like Addison’s disease.
The risk of hyperpigmentation increases when there is more exposure to sunlight. Using certain drugs (see our previous blog post on hyperpigmentation from Hydroxyurea) and prescriptions create an added risk of darkened spots due to the sunlight sensitivity coupled with increased hormone levels in your body. Any trauma or wounds to the skin can also be the culprit.
Time for the fun part!
After determining the cause of your hyperpigmentation, treating it will require time and patience. The most popular solution to reduce the appearance of your hyperpigmentation are skin lightening creams and products. Licorice root extract is a vital ingredient for fading pigmentation due to its active variable, glabridin, which blocks the enzyme that reacts to sun exposure, tyrosinase.
When utilizing skin lightening treatments (ahem, like the Bryght Duo Kit), it’s always important to keep your skin clean and exfoliated. Exfoliating after a brightening service buffs away the dead skin cells to reveal the glow from underneath the dark spots. Grab that body brush and exfoliating glove and scrub, scrub, scrub! When in doubt, exfoliate!
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