December 9, 2007
Understanding Differences In Skin
Variations among skin tones all come down to melanin, which is responsible for absorbing sunlight and giving your skin its distinctive color. Melanin is produced in melanocytes (pigment-producing cells). Everyone has the same number of melanocytes; however, in more darkly pigmented people, these pigment-producing factories create more melanin and are inclined to disperse it more widely in the epidermis.
There are important medical and cosmetic advantages to having dark skin. Darker skin is more resistant to sunburns, skin cancer, and wrinkles. As dark skin ages, the higher melanin content and facial oil cause the skin to age less rapidly than lighter skin.
However, dark skin does have disadvantages when it comes to dealing with acne — dark spots and scars are more likely to appear.
Our world is host to great variability in skin color among people of all races. We're all pretty much the same underneath where it counts, and making generalizations about acne and race or skin color is difficult.
But, the following are some of the features that are more likely to be seen in darker skin types:
- Dark spots are often the number one concern to the person with acne.
- Inflammatory (red) acne lesions tend to be less visible. Lesions appear to be less common in very dark skin because the red color of inflammation is often well hidden by the surrounding darker skin.
- Sensitive skin known as eczema (atopic dermatitis) is more common in Asians, African-Americans, and Hispanics.
- Healing acne lesions tend to produce larger scars in Hispanics, Asians, and particularly African-Americans, as compared to Caucasians.
The good news is that people of color are less likely to have severe nodular acne than are Caucasians.
