Chemical peels are filled with scientifically proven active ingredients. There are different types of peels available on the market that are designed to target different skin concerns.
Peels can be used to work superficially, at a medium depth or work very deeply in the epidermis. A strong peel with a lot of active ingredients will produce a tingling effect when it is applied. The peel produces a chemical reaction when it is on the skin, exfoliating away the top layer of dead skin cells and stimulating the growth of new skin cells.
The reaction caused by skin peels can improve the look and feel of the skin and get rid of more challenging skin concerns like hyperpigmentation.
What is Hyperpigmentation?
If you have hyperpigmentation on your face you will notice that parts of your skin appear darker where you are affected by this skin condition. Hyperpigmentation can show up in the form of sun damage, age spots, liver spots and melasma.
Hyperpigmentation is caused when melanin increases. Melanin is the pigment that gives skin its colour.
What causes Hyperpigmentation?
There are a number of things that can trigger this skin condition. These include the following:
Sun damage
When we expose ourselves to the sun the UV rays in the sunlight makes our skin produce more melanin. This is how we get a tan. Chronic exposure to the sun and UV rays can lead to the melanin producing an uneven pigment distribution, or hyperpigmentation.
Age spots
This condition is similar to the hyperpigmentation seen by sun damage, but with age spots the melanin becomes concentrated in a clump. Age spots normally appear to be flat, darker areas on the skin and they can vary in size. They are sometimes referred to as liver spots.
Melasma
Melasma shows up as darker patches on the skin and it can be triggered by sun exposure and hormonal imbalances. It often appears when women are pregnant, or it can be a side effect of using contraception pills or when a patient undergoes hormone therapy. It can present as almost a symmetrical pattern on the face, and when this happens when a woman is pregnant it is referred to as ‘the mask of pregnancy’.
How to prevent or manage hyperpigmentation?
As the saying goes, prevention is cheaper than the cure! Protecting your skin from damaging UV rays is one of the most important things you can do for your skin health.
At The Body Work Clinic in Cambridge we advise all our patients to invest in a good quality SPF, such as Obagi Sun Shield Broad Spectrum or one of the many products from the Heliocare range of sunscreens.
Some forms of hyperpigmentation are brought on by other factors such as stress and hormonal changes, so in these cases it can be harder to prevent.
If you have hyperpigmentation it can be managed by using quality medical grade skincare and by having regular skin peels.
At the Body Work Clinic we work with both the full range of Mesoestetic chemical peels including Cosmelan and the Obagi Blue Peel. We have the skill and the experience to be able to access which peel will be best to treat the specific type of hyperpigmentation our patients have.
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We have helped many patients to manage and eradicate hyperpigmentation at our clinic in Cambridge. If you would like to find out more about how chemical peels can improve your skin health please book a consultation and we will be happy to advise you of the benefits.