As a person ages, it only makes sense that pigmentation problems can occur. Some people are actually born with pigmentation problems, while others develop them through such problems as prolonged exposure to the sun. Regardless of the cause, people seek out various skin procedures in order to restore healthy skin pigmentation.
One of the procedures that are available to people with pigmentation problems such as melasma is Cosmelan. In order to understand how procedures such as Cosmelan work, it is first important to gain a more detailed understanding regarding how irregularities in skin pigmentation occur.
Skin pigmentation is something that has been developed genetically. For example, those who live in desert areas, like Africa, have darker skin because of their increased amounts of melanin production. Melanin is something that the skin produces in order to protect itself from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.
When a person ends up in the sun for long periods of time, he or she will start to notice a pronounced amount of freckles. Sometimes, those freckles develop irregularities, which is an early sign of skin cancer. In the case of melasma, an irregular skin pigmentation problem that usually occurs among women, the main cause could be because of hormones.
This is where procedures such as Cosmelan come in. This particular procedure involves applying a formula to the skin that acts as a depigmentation treatment. What this means is that the specific enzymes that are present in the process that produces melanin are blocked by the treatment.
People who are considering having the Cosmelan procedure done would probably be interested in finding out more about what benefits the procedure will have on the skin. Basically, it comes in the form of a lotion that can be applied to the skin much like a facial chemical peel would be. All skin types can use this kind of treatment, and it contains no harmful substances, like TCA.
This procedure has also been done on people who have pigmentation problems because of acne. After the cream is first applied, the patient might feel a bit of tingling and experience some skin peeling. This is normal, because the lotion is helping to increase the amount of blood flow within the skin tissue, and the top layer of the skin will loosen, thus starting to make way for the new skin underneath.
As for the specifics of the procedure itself, during an appointment with the dermatologist, the specific skin type of the person will be evaluated. The skin type of the person will affect how long the cream masque will be left on the skin. Before the masque is applied, the dermatologist will then cleanse the skin and make sure there is no residual grease on it.
Once this has been accomplished, the dermatologist will apply the masque and instruct the person on how long he or she should keep it on. This amount of time could be anywhere from four to eight hours (the person will leave the dermatologist's office wearing the masque). After the necessary time has finished, the person will remove the masque using a special cleanser that the dermatologist has prescribed.
