Skin Pigmentation

Visibly Clearer Skin

At CHIC Med-Aesthetic Clinics, our doctors will carefully assess your pigmentation concerns and formulate a treatment plan for you. We have a wide range of treatment options including lasers, chemical peels and skin needling, amongst others. This will ensure that you will get the treatment most suited for your type of pigmentation. CHIC’s lasers can effectively treat most sun spots, age spots and freckles, usually in 1-3 treatments. The first step is simply contacting us for your initial consultation, where we will discuss with you what is a realistic and achievable outcome, and what to expect from your treatment. 

What is skin pigmentation?

Melanin which is the pigment which gives skin its colour, is produced by cells in the skin called melanocytes. There are typically between 1000 and 2000 melanocytes per square millimetre of skin. Skin colour difference between fair and dark people is not due to the number of melanocytes in their skin, but due to the melanocytes’ activity. Excessive skin pigmentation is a result of abnormal production and deposition of melanin by the melanocytes. This leads to the appearance of brown or darker spots of pigmentation in the skin.

Reasons for skin pigmentation problems are:

UV radiation

In most cases, especially in areas of high UV radiation levels like Malta, skin pigmentation problems can be caused by excessive UV or sun exposure (most common).

Hormonal

As seen in melasma or chloasma that is a type of pigmentation usually caused by pregnancy or the contraceptive pill (common).

Trauma to the skin

This can be a result of physical trauma to the skin, or acne. This is known as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (common).

Birthmarks & acquired pigmentation

Skin pigmentation can be present at birth (birthmarks), appear in childhood, or adulthood. Examples of these include; congenital melanocytic naevus, cafe au lait spots, and freckles.

How can skin pigmentation be treated with lasers?

Our lasers can be used for the treatment of skin pigmentation and have minimal or no impact on normal skin. This is possible due to the process of selective photothermolysis. This is a term that describes how a particular laser wavelength is attracted to pigmented lesions, and only minimally to the normal skin to allow selective removal of a lesion. This allows the laser to selectively disrupt the pigment with minimal or no damage to surrounding skin.

How can skin pigmentation be treated with other methods?

The first method of treating skin pigmentation, is to prevent its appearance or worsening by daily application of sunscreen.  Topical lightening agents can be used in conjunction to help reduce skin pigmentation. These work by inhibiting enzymes that produce melanin and by increasing the turnover of the skin to flush out exisiting pigmentation. At CHIC we offer a range of chemical peels and creams, along with skin needling to treat pigmentation.