What is uneven skin tone

Plus, Dr. Chemical exfoliants like retinoids , salicylic acid, or glycolic acid get absorbed and work their magic at a deeper level. Tretinoin is:. Night Shift is a dermatologist-formulated tretinoin serum tailored to your skin and prescribed by doctors online, without the cost of an in-person visit.

Kojic acid, azelaic acid, and licorice extract are great for inhibiting tyrosinase—an enzyme needed to produce melanin. These three often come in a combined formula.

Vitamin C is another great tyrosinase inhibitor. Vitamin C also protects against free radicals and promotes collagen production—which makes it great for combating sun damage. Some folks experience dryness with vitamin C serums, which can always be counteracted with a hydrating moisturizer. Niacinamide works a little differently to brighten your complexion. It acts as a bleach by decreasing the pigment-producing cells in your skin. So talk to your dermatologist before considering this active ingredient.

When introducing a new product, start with a low concentration. Test for sensitive skin on a small patch of skin to see how it reacts before covering your whole face in it. Kashlan recommends starting with a topical skincare routine to improve uneven skin tone before getting an in-office treatment.

Intense pulsed light IPL treatments target and destroy excess pigment cells in dark spots over sessions. It generally has few side effects besides minor sensitivity post-treatment.

Laser resurfacing is more painful but usually only requires one session. It removes the outer layer of skin on dark spots to make way for new skin to grow. Chemical peels also remove the outer layer of the skin. Common side effects include redness and irritation.

It removes the outer layer of your skin, stimulating new cell growth. Side effects are pretty minor, and most go away in a few hours. Talk to your dermatologist to figure out which cosmetic procedure makes the most sense for you. Use a simple daily skincare routine to keep that even smooth glow. In the short term, this causes a tan to develop. Over time, however, this sun damage can lead to brown spots and an uneven skin tone.

Some people may refer to this as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation or hyperpigmentation acne. A type of hyperpigmentation known as melasma occurs due to increased hormone production.

This commonly occurs during pregnancy, and it may also affect people using hormonal birth control. Older adults may have a more uneven skin tone than younger adults for many reasons, including sun exposure and the use of medications that may increase skin hyperpigmentation.

Some research indicates that hyperpigmentation issues, including post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and melasma, can occur across all skin types with aging. Bug bites, burns, and other forms of skin trauma can also contribute to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Some skin conditions, such as rosacea or dermatitis , can cause flushing and give the appearance of an uneven skin tone.

There are many options available to those who wish to even their skin tone, ranging from over-the-counter OTC products to professional treatments. Options include:. This is often the case with pregnancy-related hyperpigmentation, which typically resolves without treatment within 12 months of delivery.

It can also happen with post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. If a new skin care product or birth control pill is causing the hyperpigmentation, stopping its use may resolve the issue within 6—12 months.

Proper treatment of skin conditions such as acne , rosacea, and psoriasis may help prevent the formation of new areas of hyperpigmentation. The American Academy of Dermatology recommends that everyone — regardless of their skin type or color — use a water resistant, broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher every day.

Several OTC products can help treat an uneven skin tone. These typically contain at least one of the following ingredients:. If home treatments do not lead to the desired results, professional medical treatments can help even out skin tone. Individuals should discuss their options with a dermatologist, who may suggest one of the following:. There are several steps that people can take to reduce their chance of developing an uneven skin tone. These can include:. Some people claim that applying natural products directly to the skin can reduce hyperpigmentation.

Uneven pigmentation and skin texture issues are common and can occur for a number of reasons. Hyperpigmentation is the most common cause of uneven skin tone and texture, which is due to excess melanin production in the skin. Other causes range from hereditary skin conditions to lifestyle choices, acne and scarring, and hormonal changes. Dark spots, rough, bumpy, or reddish areas can be unflattering, distressing, and in some rare cases, dangerous. Finding the cause of your uneven skin tone or texture is the first step towards getting the treatment you need to resolve it.

All products featured are independently selected by our editors, however, AEDIT may receive a commission on items purchased through our links. Similarly, unbalanced skin texture that is dry, scaly, or rough in spots is another frequently discussed symptom of patients, which can come from a wide variety of sources. Although there are other causes of uneven skin tone and texture, the most common causes for both symptoms are hyperpigmentation--a skin condition where dark spots or patches appear due to excess melanin, and for unbalanced skin texture, lack of hydration in the skin.

In uneven skin tone, too much melanin in an area of the skin can happen after skin damage due to sun exposure or smoking, illness or disease, or an injury to the skin, while lack of hydration can lead to rough, dry skin in patches from the lack of moisture retention in the skin as we age, to insufficient water intake in the diet.

Sometimes, hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone or texture can be symptoms of underlying congenital diseases or other illnesses. In most cases, however, hyperpigmentation and skin texture symptoms are painless and physically harmless, but can dramatically affect the appearance and self-esteem of the patient.

Additionally, hyperpigmentation and skin texture issues are usually very treatable, whether the condition is acquired from sun exposure, diet, acne scarring, or congenital disease or condition.

This article will go over some of the most common causes of uneven skin tone and texture, what you can do to prevent hyperpigmentation and other skin tone issues, and what you can do to resolve the issues once spots or other pigmentation problems have appeared.

Determining the cause for uneven skin tone can be complicated, and requires a thorough examination from a licensed and qualified dermatologist for an accurate diagnosis. In many cases, the cause of discoloration or less-than-uniform skin textures are unknown but can usually be treated successfully with the help of a medical professional.

The signs and symptoms of uneven skin tone and texture issues can range from slightly noticeable and harmless, to obvious and even dangerous. When a skin condition is more severe, however, signs and symptoms can be much more apparent and noticeable. In general, patients with uneven skin tone and texture should look out for the following symptoms of these common skin conditions and diseases and consult with a doctor for a complete evaluation and diagnosis.

Here are some of the most common types of hyperpigmentation and skin texture issues seen in patients across the country, along with the signs, symptoms, and causes of each condition.

Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation : Acne scars are one of the most common causes of hyperpigmentation in patients. Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation describes dark spots that are sometimes left behind after an inflammatory wound on the skin has healed, often caused by acne breakouts or from picking at acne lesions causing scars.

Dark spots caused by post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation are often flat, dark brown, red, gray, black, pink, or purple. When the skin heals from the inflammation, excess melanin is produced to aid the body in its recovery. As a result, the affected area is discolored—which is usually permanent, though skin discolorations can fade over time. This type of discoloration can also appear after cosmetic treatments such as chemical peels, dermabrasion, or laser treatments—usually as a result of poor, unprofessional practices or on candidates with darker skin tones unsuitable for these types of procedures.

Age Spots : Solar lentigines, also known as age spots, have many names—including liver spots, dark spots, and sun spots. These dark patches are caused by sun damage as we age , which tend to darken over time and are most noticeable and pronounced in older patients.

Age spots are most commonly seen in people with lighter skin colors, though they can affect all types of skin colors. Symptoms usually appear as increased pigmentation in small spots or patches that are flat, oval-shaped, and beige, black, or brown-colored. Sun Damage : Excessive exposure to the sun can result in skin damage, which can also result in discoloration and a change in skin texture when the body begins producing excess melanin to protect it from harmful UV rays.

Aside from age spots, sun damage can present itself in a variety of harmful ways, including sunburn and peeling, skin dryness, and the darkening of freckles. A particularly dangerous symptom of sun damage is actinic keratosis, a condition where rough, scaly, red patches of skin appear after excessive sun exposure.

Patients that develop this skin texture change are often at a higher risk for developing skin cancers and tend to be lighter complected, blonde or red-haired individuals. Melasma : Melasma, or chloasma, is a dark patch of skin that appears over the cheeks, nose, upper lip, and the chin, and less commonly, on other areas of the body like the legs and the arms that are frequently exposed to the sun.

Melasma is one of the most difficult pigmentary issues dealt with by as many as five million Americans, mostly women. Melasma symptoms are purely aesthetic and otherwise harmless. Some signs of melasma are gray, brown, or light-beige patches appearing on the chin, cheeks, upper lip area, the nose, and the forehead, usually during pregnancy or other hormone-related changes in the body. When uneven skin tone and texture symptoms occur for other reasons than hyperpigmentation, the condition that causes it is sometimes but not always a more serious complication.

Here are some of the most common non-hyperpigmentation disorders that cause uneven skin tone and texture:. Broken Capillaries : When capillaries or blood vessels on the face erupt or become enlarged, the result is can be highly visible and unattractive reddish lines that appear under the surface of the skin.

Usually, broken capillaries are found on the face or the legs, and do not cause symptoms other than the change in the appearance of the skin. Broken capillaries are the result of an eruption of blood vessels on the face, which can happen for a variety of reasons. These include genetics, pregnancy, excessive sun exposure, extreme weather changes, injuries, allergic reactions to chemicals or environmental irritants, alcohol consumption, vomiting, and sneezing.

Broken capillaries can also appear as a secondary symptom of rosacea. Patients with lighter skin tones are more likely to notice broken capillaries, though they can appear on anyone. Vitiligo : In contrast to hyperpigmentation caused by an overproduction of melanin, Vitiligo is a skin condition that results in the loss of pigmentation of the skin.

This happens when the cells that normally make melanin stop producing it, causing lighter skin to appear in blotches anywhere on the body. Rosacea : Rosacea is a chronic skin condition, where patients have flare-ups of flushed, reddish-toned skin on the face, with enlarged blood vessels and sometimes red, pus-filled bumps around the nose, cheeks, and chin. The symptoms of rosacea can come and go, appearing for weeks to months, and returning sometime later.