Are the spots on your face melasma, sunspots, age spots, or skin cancer? Want to use laser treatment to remove them, but worry about post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH)? Chen Junru from Taiwan Jinghe Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Clinic shared the 10-day experience that helped her father remove a large age spot on his face.
Melanin Production
Melanin is a chemical substance the human body produces to protect against ultraviolet (UV) rays. When skin is overexposed to UV rays, it will secrete a large amount of melanin. However, if the body’s metabolism is poor, melanin will deposit on the skin, forming sun spots.- Age: The metabolic function of the human body diminishes with age, and melanin metabolization also becomes less efficient.
- Diabetes: Diabetic patients are prone to pigmentation and keratinization due to insulin imbalance, turning the skin around the affected area dark, rough, and even thickening it.
- Pregnancy: Pregnant women’s increased secretion of the hormones estrogen and progesterone can stimulate melanin production. Many pregnant women experience an overproduction of melanin.
- Contraceptives: Taking contraceptives or using hormone replacement therapy will increase estrogen and can spur melanin production.
- Negative emotions: Long-term stress and negative emotions will increase hormones and induce melanin production.
What Kind of Spot Is It?
Damage from ultraviolet rays is the leading cause of age spots, which can be exacerbated in older people due to their slower metabolism. Benign keratin hyperplasia, the thickening of the outer layer of skin, can also occur alongside hyperpigmentation. Age spots often occur on the face, back of the hands, chest, upper back, and neck, though they can appear elsewhere.The difference between age spots, sunspots, melasma, and skin cancer is that sunspots and melasma are flat to the touch. In contrast, age spots and skin cancer can be three-dimensional protrusions and are precursors of skin keratosis.
- Plaque shape: Has it changed suddenly, or does it have an irregular or asymmetrical shape?
- Plaque size: Has it suddenly grown larger?
- Plaque color: Is its color uneven?
TCM Treatment for Age Spots
Traditional Chinese medicine treats age spots by starting in the kidneys and improving the rate of metabolism.
Ms. Chen said that TCM believes age spots are a natural phenomenon of human aging. When the body suffers from kidney qi (vital energy) deficiency and lack of water, the body’s hormonal and metabolic functions are reduced, resulting in dry skin, keratin hyperplasia, and changes in melanin. All this, coupled with the accumulation of oxidative free radicals in the skin, makes it challenging to eliminate age spots. TCM treatment starts with nourishing the kidneys and slowing the aging process.
The prescription Ms. Chen gave her father was not designed to remove age spots but to speed up intestinal peristalsis and improve metabolic function and the functionalities of the viscera. However, she believes that once the internal organs are healthy, signs of wellness will also appear on the face and skin.
Emotions and stress are also other significant causes of skin spots. Usually, this type of spot is called a liver spot. TCM says that the liver governs emotions. If the liver qi is disrupted due to stress, this will show on the face as pigmentation deposits. For example, postpartum women under stress are prone to such pigmentation deposits.
Laser removal of these spots seems to be the quick fix, but Ms. Chen emphasized that while marks like freckles on the skin’s surface are easy to remove, deeper ones are not as easy. Freckles on the face often reflect one’s visceral health. These hyperpigmentation spots might be due to an imbalanced intestinal microbiome, poor sleep quality, or too much emotional stress. If these things persist, even if the surface spots are removed, new spots will soon reappear.
Improve Skin Protection
Besides addressing problems in the viscera and improving blood circulation and metabolism, to further enhance skin protection, Ms. Chen suggests eating more antioxidant-rich foods, such as:- Fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Green tea.
- Foods containing vitamin E, such as nuts, whole grains, coarse grains, etc.
- Chinese medicinal herbs that improve blood circulation and have anti-aging properties, such as raw ginger, ginseng, Astragalus, Ganoderma lucidum, white fungus, hawthorn, etc.
To lighten existing spots, Ms. Chen also suggests the following tea recipe:
- Salvia miltiorrhiza increases blood circulation.
- Honeysuckle reduces inflammation.
- Lotus leaf, Lilianthus chinensis, and donkey-hide gelatin beautify and nourish yin and can replace tea for daily health care purposes.
Precautions for Laser Surgery
Sometimes if the skin gets damaged from laser surgery or skin disease, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) can occur. Dr. Hu Yixuan from Taiwan Jingyan Dermatology Clinic said that Asians, in particular, are quite susceptible to such a phenomenon. Causes of PIH include the following:- Constitution problems: Asians have darker skin, or pigmentation is prone to occur after injury. For people with this type of constitution, it takes a longer time for laser treatment to fade the pigmentation of the injury.
- Laser treatment course too intense: If the laser treatment is too intense, it will take longer for the skin to heal. When healing is slower, and inflammation is more obvious, skin darkening will be worse.
- Poor postoperative care: Sunscreen must be used after the operation, and outdoor activities should be reduced to a minimum. Activities such as hiking, sunbathing, soaking in hot springs, and using the sauna, will all create redness and heat on the skin, which should be avoided.
- Acidic skin care products: Using these before surgery can lead to PIH.
- Sunburn before surgery: Damaged skin is not suited for laser treatment.
Certain skin care products, such as three-in-one whitening ointment, contain hydroquinone that can prevent the formation of melanin. In addition to vitamin C, kojic acid, arbutin, and tranexamic acid for external use all have similar whitening effects.
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