If you?re a human being who has ever spent a day in the sun?or ever had an especially annoying, long-lasting pimple?then you probably have a few dark spots or聽red marks on your face. And you?ve probably realized by this point that no matter how many scrubs, masks, or gentle words of encouragement you heap upon those spots, they never totally聽fade.
But to get rid of hyperpigmentation (the catch-all term for dark spots and discoloration), you kinda have to know what you?re dealing with, first. ?Essentially, hyperpigmentation is your skin?s reaction to injury,? says Mona Gohara, MD, dermatologist at Yale University. ?For some biological reason, when you get injured, your melanocytes?the cells in your skin responsible for creating melanin?go into overdrive and create even more melanin at the site of your injury, giving you hyperpigmentation.? MORE: The Best Skin-Care Tricks For Clearer, Brighter, Better Skin
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But the thing is, those ?injuries? can be anything as small as a pimple, or a shaving nick, or a patch of eczema, or even just hangin? out in the sun for a few hours. And for some reason, your melanocytes turn into Chicken Little over the injury and create a shit ton of melanin like the sky is falling, leaving you with hyperpigmentation.
Of course, not all skin discoloration is the same on all people. On lighter skin tones, the response to injury tends to appear as dark patches and spots, called hyperpigmentation, while darker skin tones often produce ligh...