Epidermal Melasma

Melasma can occur up in two forms. It can either be dermal melasma or epidermal melasma, or a mixture of both. The former comes up directly under the surface of the skin, while the later comes up on the surface of the skin.

The skin condition appears in a dark color. It usually has an irregular shape on the skin. It is commonly found in places like the neck, lip, forehead, upper cheek and nose. It should be noted that epidermal melasma is not contagious and it is not an infection. It also does not lead to cancer in the least. The only thing it does is to introduce another form of coloration to your skin. The skin condition can even disappear after it had been on the skin for some time.  But in case you do not have the patience to wait for it to disappear, you can always seek for a way out by applying any of the common treatment methods available.

This skin condition is due to hyper pigmentation of the melanocytes that are responsible for producing melanin. If you excessively expose yourself to the sun or you are living in areas where the sun is intense, you may end up with this skin condition. You are also more susceptible to it if your skin color is naturally light brown.  The sun can work on the melanocytes on your skin and cause some genetic manipulations in them. This will lead to the production of the skin condition on you.  If a patient has thyroid disease, he or she may also end up with epidermal melasma. Cosmetics, allergic reaction and some drugs can also lead to its formation on the epidermal melasma. It had also been discovered that the skin condition occurs more in women.

Topical creams can be used in treating epidermal melasma. The dermal form may not respond well to this form of treatment, but the epidermal melasma is directly on the surface and can be easily contacted by the topical cream.  A topical cream containing hydroquinone can do the needed miracle. You can also get the topical cream over the counter. Laser had also been used extensively for the treatment of epidermal melasma.

Anyone receiving treatment for epidermal melasma needs to avoid exposing him or herself to the sun for the period that the treatment will last. You also should not expect a miracle to happen over night. This is to say that it may take some time before the treatment methods help out with the skin condition.

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