White skin is considered to be a sign of beauty. Yes! People tend to believe that beauty is not without white skin. You can easily see this obsession with skin tone in men and women of all ages. They believe in going to far greater lengths to get their desired skin tone. In fact, everyone wants to look beautiful and this desire leads their attention towards medical procedures that make a person’s skin tone lighter.
Skin whitening or skin lightening refers to the practice of using chemical substance to manipulate amount of melanin in skin. Melanin is the pigment in skin which gives a particular complexion and so, determines your skin tone. Lessening the amount of melanin in skin turns your skin tone to light.
Some significant points about skin whitening are:
- Some whiteners cause your facial skin to become thin so as a result skin becomes sensitive to UVA and UVB rays. They can also cause an increase in pigmentation in areas around the eyes, an effect known as “bleach panda effect”. Long term use of skin whiteners causes pigments to accumulate in joints.
- The treatment uses lotions and gels to inhibit melanin production and sunscreen to protect skin from the harmful rays of sun. Retinoid are also a part of whiteners.
- Injections of vitamin C and glutathione medications are also used to change skin tone. it accelerates production of elastin and collagen and also has skin clarifying properties.
- Some chemicals used in skin whiteners can turn harmful, some are suspected to be carcinogenic, while some others are banned. Treatment includes laser procedure exfoliation of skin either with topical cosmetic or chemical peel.
- The procedure is performed on an outpatient basis and may use local anesthesia. Patients are asked to minimize their sun exposure. Sunlight causes a significant reduction in the efficacy of treatment.
- Sometimes, people who are sick or have kidney or liver disorder are not recommended to have skin whitening treatment.
Skin whitening is good procedure for those who want to enjoy light skin complexion. It changes tone of your skin and you enjoy becoming white. However, one thing that you must take into account is that prolonged use of these whiteners also carries some risks. So, I do not recommend you to adopt the treatment for a longer time period.