REAL-LIFE STORY
Pesky Pigmentation Two patients share their journey to peel away their facial pigmentation
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efore you get excited about the end of winter and immediately bake your skin in the glorious summer sun, consider this. The sun’s ultraviolet light is the number one cause of accelerated ageing! As we will learn from 35-year-old Genta and 40-year-old Julia, taking care of your skin in the summer months with sunscreen and sun avoidance is integral to not only prevent nasty skin cancers, but to avoid premature wrinkles, sagging and pigment irregularities. They both suffer from melasma – a type of skin discolouration or pigmentation that is caused by a mix of hormones and years of poor sun care. Fed up with the way their skin looks, Genta and Julia sought the help of aesthetic practitioner Dr Lori Nigro to see if she could help.
The concerns
Genta and Julia had been suffering from their pigmentation for years, and had tried using numerous creams to help, with no resolve. Genta says, “I’ve had severe pigmentation since my second pregnancy… especially on my forehead. It must be 12 years that I haven’t liked my skin and people constantly ask me why it’s so bad, which is very uncomfortable – I just wanted people to stop feeling sorry for me.” As you will read on p.25, melasma is common in pregnancy and can be badly exacerbated by the sun. Julia has had similar issues, sharing, "I’m a little older now, so I have a few issues with my skin, but pigmentation is what really bothers me. I Before
would say my wrinkles bother me 5/10 but my pigmentation is 20/10! I had been thinking about getting treatment for a while since nothing else had worked.”
The treatment experience
After an in-depth medical consultation, Dr Lori deemed that Genta and Julia could each benefit from a chemical peel treatment because they were looking for a simple, effective and safe treatment without pain. Her treatment of choice for both patients was called the mesoestetic dermamelan protocol. This is a treatment plan that involves preparing the skin at home for two weeks before having an in-clinic chemical peel, followed by an ongoing strict aftercare and maintenance skin regime. A chemical peel is a skin resurfacing procedure where a chemical solution is applied to remove the top layers of the skin. They are commonly used to treat or prevent wrinkles, address skin texture, improve acne and help pigmentation concerns. “This treatment plan was a really novel experience – I haven’t had anything like this before,” says Julia, adding that when she stopped all her usual skincare and started the pre-treatment regime (see pre- and post-treatment box) she noticed her skin started peeling a little bit by the end of the two-week preparation stage. This stage is important because it leads to a quicker and more predictable treatment response, with less shedding and redness, according to Dr Lori. Julia says that she experienced a bit of skin flaking and peeling at this stage, and Genta added that her skin felt a bit tingly at night. After
40-year-old Julia before and after eight weeks of the chemical peel pigmentation protocol. Patient treated by Dr Lori
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