Skin Discoloration: Types, Causes, and Treatment

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Obviously, skin discoloration refers to the alteration of the usual color of the skin. The skin may become lighter, darker, yellow, pale, red, blue or even orange. There are a lot of causes of this occurrence, but they are all under either natural, artificial, or genetic causes. Thankfully, people who are interested in this matter will be able to find out about the majority of these conditions, their causes and most probably their treatment.

It is important to identify first what is typically involved in the process of skin discoloration. The skin contains millions and millions of melanocytes, which are the cells on the skin that produce the natural pigment of the body called melanin. When these cells are stimulated, either by prolonged exposure to sunlight, drugs or other causes, these tend to secrete more melanin as a natural reaction, thereby producing the darkened effect. In time, the darkening of the skin is reduced, but in some cases it does not occur. However, in some discolorations, the color of the skin does not seem to be modified by the melanocytes themselves.

What common skin discoloration causes and types are there? As previously mentioned, one type of discoloration is hyperpigmentation. In hyperpigmentation, the melanocytes overproduce melanin, causing the darkened skin color. Other than prolonged exposure to sunlight, this may occur in pregnant women, wherein these dark patches are referred to as melasma. Conversely, a condition known as hypopigmentation, or the lightening of the skin due to the loss of melanin, may be caused by conditions like vitiligo and tinea versicolor. These conditions may be acquired genetically or naturally. Medications like hydroquinone also cause this discoloration to occur, albeit in the artificial way. Erythema is almost always the triggered effect of conditions like fever, allergies, dermal infections, flushing, alcohol intake and irritation. Paleness of the skin may be most likely due to the lower amount of oxygen content in the hemoglobin, which is probably caused by anemia or sympathetic responses. Oftentimes, this will progress to the next skin discoloration known as cyanosis. Cyanosis is the bluish discoloration of the skin, which would mean the lack of oxygen supply in the blood. Although anemia may not be a certain cause, the most probably causes would be suffocation, myocardial infarction or pneumonia. The yellowish discoloration of the skin is somewhat the scarier type. This is also known as jaundice, and may be expected to occur when the liver function of the body is harmed. The less severe discoloration is the orange one, which would mean that a person must be excessively eating carotene-rich foods like carrots or squash.

From the numerous skin discoloration causes and types, should be obvious to spot out that the treatment varies according the causation of the condition. Usually, skin hyperpigmentation may be relieved by skin whitening agents; however, some products may prove to work differently for other people. This goes with the other treatment options for other types. For a more definitive way of curing these situations, it should be imperative that one should consult a dermatologist.



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