Hyperpigmentation is one of the most common skin conditions that people experience all over the world. It is characterized by the noticeable darkening of certain portions of the skin while the surrounding areas retain the original shade or are of a noticeable contrast. Primarily, hyperpigmentation is caused by the excessive exposure of the skin to the ultra violet rays of the sun. These ultraviolet rays have the ability to cause a significant amount of damage to your skin such as cell augmentation as well as skin cancer. The pigmentation or coloration of your skin is the only natural shield your body has against these harmful rays of light. The darker the color of the skin, the better equipped it is to fight of the ultraviolet light. As a result, whenever your skin senses that it requires a better level of protection, the melanocytes (cells that produce melanin or the skin coloring agent) in the body will create darker shades of pigmentation. Under normal circumstances, this additional and darker pigmentation will be distributed evenly over the areas of skin that are most exposed to sunlight. Hyperpigmentation occurs when some of the darker pigmentation starts to collect in certain pockets of the skin, thereby causing the surrounding areas of skin to look much lighter in complexion. Considering the amount of importance that a person’s appearance has in today’s increasingly appearance based world, this can be quite a problem for some people. While it doesn’t really need any special medical attention (unless the ultraviolet rays have caused more severe damage) it can make a person look very patchy and unkempt.
The condition can be caused by a number of factors – most commonly being the intensity of sunlight you are exposed to. Other factors such as heredity can also put certain people at a higher risk of suffering from hyperpigmentation while an imbalance of hormones in the body could also be held responsible.
To return your complexion to its previous condition, you could try mixing 1 teaspoon each of milk, honey, lemon juice and ½ a teaspoon of almond oil and apply it over the face for about 15 minutes. Wash it off with the help of cold water to add a shine to your skin as well as remove some of the tan. Alternatively, you could also try mixing some dried orange peels with some curd and applying it over the more noticeable patches of skin to help reduce their prominence. Wash the mixture off your face with some cold water after about 15 minutes.