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. Causes for pigmentation issues include: – 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).

Our state-of-the-art Alexandrite 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.

The first method of treating skin pigmentation is to prevent its appearance or worsening by daily application of sunscreen. At Remedies we also offer a range of chemical peels as well as platelet rich plasma (PRP) to tackle pigmentation issues.