Successful repigmentation of a scar requires migration of functioning melanocytes into scar tissue, production of melanin within melanosomes and transfer of melanin to neighbouring keratinocytes. A failing at any point in this process will lead to an abnormally pigmented scar.
White & Hypopigmented Scars
They can be challenging to treat. The focus is to get your pigment cells to produce more melanin. Lasers, topicals, microneedling & melanocyte surgical transfer are methods to achieve this. The highest success is seen in autologous surgical melanocyte transfer via micrografting.
Very few studies have shown that melanin production can be increased in the human body. One small clinical trial suggests that a prescription medication called nitisinone may help increase melanin in people with a rare disease that causes pale skin and hair and poor vision.
Light therapy or phototherapy is the treatment to help return color to your skin. Your provider will use light boxes, ultraviolet B (UVB) lights or medical-grade lasers directed at your skin for a short amount of time. It can take several light therapy sessions to see results on your skin.
Your skin cells will start to make melanin again as your affected areas heal. Hypopigmentation will usually go away after a few weeks or months. If you have pityriasis alba, psoriasis or eczema, hypopigmentation usually goes away on its own without treatment. It may take a few weeks or months.
Using bimatoprost 0.03% solution alone without invasive adjunctive therapies is not only more tolerable from a pain perspective but is also a more cost-effective, one-step option for patients looking to improve scar appearance in hypopigmented scars.
Melanocyte-stimulating hormone secretion from the pituitary is increased by exposure to UV light. Unlike most hormones, melanocyte-stimulating hormone release is not thought to be controlled by a direct feedback mechanism.
Laser Therapy
If there is hypopigmentation of a scar, it can be treated with the Excimer laser (308 nm) [9]. This laser produces a stimulation of melanocytes, thereby correcting hypopigmentation in the scar tissue.
Treatment for Hypopigmented Scars
The use of Latisse in combination with other therapies such as fractional lasers has delivered results. Surgical grafting of pigmented skin to non-pigmented areas. Reactivating the wound and treating it alternately with other methods.
Once mature, the white scar will not tan due to lack of your normal pigment and with sun exposure can become too dark (hyperpigmented); too pale (hypo pigmented) permanently or burn. It is important to protect any healing injury or new scar from sun exposure, as the skin is sensitive and more prone to sun damage.
There are a few reasons why a scar might turn dark. For example, if a scar was exposed to sunlight during the healing process, there's a good chance the scar tissue will become pigmented. Dark scars can also be caused by inflammation, poor healing, or the genetics of your skin and how your skin heals.
After the study, it was concluded that combining CO2 laser treatment and Latisse was both a safe and viable option for patients looking to improve the appearance of hypopigmented scars.
Many lay people use vitamin E on a regular basis to improve the outcome of scars and several physicians recommend topical vitamin E after skin surgery or resurfacing.
Caring for Scars
One tip for taking care of scars is to use a topical ointment. Cocoa butter cream and Vaseline are most often used to help reduce the appearance of scars. Applying the ointment daily will help heal scars but will not make them invisible. Another tip for caring for your scars includes surgery.
Repigmentation is achieved by medications, phototherapy, and surgical procedures. Medications - There are topical and systemic medications. Topical corticosteroids - Low dose corticosteroids are used as first-line drugs in many hypopigmented conditions. They are known to accelerate the repigmentation process.
Currently, no safe or proven method exists to increase melanin – the pigment, or color, in a person's skin, hair, and eyes. A person's genetics determine their natural melanin levels and skin color. In general, people who have darker skin tones have more melanin than those with lighter skin tones.
Many people use apple cider vinegar on the skin to try and lighten unwanted pigmentation. Apple cider vinegar contains acetic acid, which may act as a mild chemical peel in some cases.
Conclusions. Based on our findings, vitamin D levels were significantly low in patients with vitiligo in comparison with controls; however, we did not observe any significant effect of vitamin D on the occurrence and extension of vitiligo lesions.