Skin conditions which can be helped by the use of camouflage cream
Some of the more common conditions which affect the colour of the skin and can be masked by camouflage cream are listed below.
Skin conditions such as:
- acne
- eczema
- Psoriasis
- Melasma
- Solar lentigo (liver spots)
Dark pigmentation of the skin may involve small areas or may be widespread, depending on its many different causes.
Some causes of dark pigmentation:
In all of these cases, camouflage cream can hide the colour of the injured skin and match it to the colour of the normal surrounding skin with excellent results.
- Injuries such as minor burns, cuts, grazes, bruises and sunburn, may leave persistent dark marks especially in people with darker skin (more severe injury to the skin causes scarring - see scarring section below). Persistent and repeated bruises following very trivial injury may appear particularly in the skin of the forearms in the elderly and in people whose skin has been weakened by overuse of potent cortisone (steroid) creams. Bruising of the face and body following accidental injury or surgery can be hidden with camouflage cream until such time as the bruising clears.
- Skin conditions of many types can caused dark marks. Sometimes the dark marks are left behind after the condition clears, and in these cases the marks are usually more severe and persistent in people with darker skin.
- Acne is one of the commonest causes of dark pigmentation which remains behind once the active spots have cleared. Acne is a disorder of the oil glands of the skin and typically starts around puberty. It causes pimples affecting mainly the face and trunk and usually clears up in the twenties although it may go on for much longer in some people. The severity of acne is highly variable. Milder forms can leave dark pigmented patches while more severe forms cause scarring (see scarring section below).
- Eczema is also called dermatitis by U.K. dermatologists and includes a group of different disorders. The mildest forms simply cause minor redness, dryness and itching, while more severe types cause weeping of the skin. Eczema/dermatitis may affect only small areas of the skin or may be widely spread over the body, depending on the cause. It may leave dark marks behind after the condition has cleared.
Atopic eczema (also called atopic dermatitis) is one of the commonest forms. It usually starts in infancy and may continue until the teens or early twenties, sometimes later. It is thought to be an allergy (for example to house dust mite) but doctors find it difficult to be sure about this. It may be very troublesome. The skin is red, dry and very itchy, and scratching may cause weeping and bleeding. It may affect any part of the skin, most commonly the face and the folds in front of the elbows and behind the knees. The condition usually runs in families and the children and young people who suffer from it often also have asthma and/or hayfever.
Allergic contact dermatitis is a completely different type of eczema/dermatitis, caused by allergy to well-defined chemicals that come into contact with the skin. Its pattern varies according to the nature of the chemical and where it comes into contact with the skin. A very large range of chemicals can cause allergic contact dermatitis, one of the commonest being nickel found in jewellery, metal buttons, buckles, coins and other metal objects. Ingredients of cosmetics and fragrances are well recognised causes. The diagnosis is confirmed by a process called ‘patch testing’, where a range of different chemicals is applied to the skin of the back under special plasters. Patch testing itself may leave pigmented marks on the back.
Varicose eczema, also called stasis dermatitis, occurs on the lower legs of adults with varicose veins. The skin of the affected lower leg becomes unhealthy because the blood flow through the skin is sluggish. Redness and scaling occur above and around the ankle, and dark pigmentation can be left behind after the process clears. Varicose veins can also cause leakage of tiny amounts of blood into the skin around and above the ankle, causing dark marks without prior eczema. - Acne is one of the commonest causes of dark pigmentation which remains behind once the active spots have cleared. Acne is a disorder of the oil glands of the skin and typically starts around puberty. It causes pimples affecting mainly the face and trunk and usually clears up in the twenties although it may go on for much longer in some people. The severity of acne is highly variable. Milder forms can leave dark pigmented patches while more severe forms cause scarring (see scarring section below).
- Psoriasis is a common, usually non-itchy skin disorder of unknown cause, occurring for the first time at any age, although usually not in very young children. Sometimes it runs in families. Once it has started, it often comes and goes over a lifetime. It produces red, scaling patches of variable size that may be minimal and not very troublesome, but it may be very widespread and cause major difficulties. It affects any area of the skin, but particularly the scalp, elbows and knees. Long-lasting dark marks may be left behind once the patches of psoriasis have cleared.
- Melasma, also called chloasma, occurs quite often in women who are pregnant or on the oral contraceptive, but also in perfectly healthy women who are neither pregnant nor on the pill. It may occur in men, but less often. It consists of brownish patches almost always on sun-exposed areas, especially the forehead, cheeks, upper lip and/or chin. There is no rash, only the appearance of brownish patches of variable severity. It is commoner and more pronounced in people with darker skin.
- Solar lentigo, also sometimes called liver spots. These have nothing to do with the liver, are the result of sun damage to the skin, and occur most often in older people with fair skin. The lentigo patches look like large, brown freckles and occur on sun-exposed sites such as the backs of the hands, outer forearms and face.
Please note that doctors recommend that people with such freckles should receive medical attention to ensure that there is no risk of melanoma, a serious form of skin cancer that can appear as a dark, freckle-like mark.
As indicated above, camouflage cream is ideal to mask the dark pigmentation of the skin and can match the colour of the masked areas with that of the normal surrounding skin.
- Vitiligo
- Injuries
White patches affecting the skin may be small and localised or extensive, depending on the cause.
As with dark marks, camouflage cream can cover white patches and match the colour of the masked areas with the normal surrounding skin.
Some causes of white patches in the skin:
- Vitiligo is a condition of uncertain cause that may occur at any age from childhood onwards. The skin loses its normal ‘melanin’ pigment leaving white patches that often affect opposite halves of the body in a curiously symmetrical fashion. For example, if one cheek or hand is involved, the other cheek or hand is often also involved. The patches may be small or large, may affect any part of the body, and in rare cases may affect the entire skin. Vitiligo is often persistent, continuing over many years, and is much more noticeable in people with darker skin. Severe sunburn may occur in the white patches.
- Injuries such as minor burns, cuts and grazes may cause ‘depigmentation’ or whitish patches, especially in people with darker skin. It is unclear why increased pigmentation occurs in some cases and depigmentation in others. In more severe injuries the depigmentation is accompanied by scarring (see tattoo section below).
- Port wine stains
- Flushing and blushing
- Rosacea
- Thread veins
Camouflage cream is ideal to mask unwanted redness of the skin and match the colour of the masked area with the normal surrounding skin.
Some causes of abnormal redness of the skin:
- Port wine stains are a type of birthmark . They are caused by enlargement of small blood vessels in the skin, present from birth, and result in permanent reddish patches which may be large and highly noticeable. They may affect any part of the body, but especially the face.
- Flushing or blushing of the face and upper chest may occur in perfectly healthy people and is sometimes triggered by exercise, stress, embarrassment or the menopause. The skin is otherwise quite normal. Camouflage cream allows the face to remain a consistent colour as the underlying flushing or blushing comes and goes.
- Rosacea produces redness and pimples on the face of adults. It is of unknown cause but may be aggravated by over-use of strong cortisone (steroid) creams on the face. It may leave the skin of the face persistently red and flushed, and with numerous thread veins.
- Thread veins often occur on their own or as a result of a skin disorder such as rosacea or sun damage. On the face they can cause a reddish, flushed appearance. On the legs they are often dark bluish in colour. Varicose veins on the legs are much larger than thread veins and stand out. They cannot themselves be hidden by camouflage cream, although any colour change they cause can be hidden.
- Injuries/surgery
- Skin disorders such as acne and discoid lupus
- Stretch marks
Scarring of the skin is highly variable, depending on its cause.
It may be associated with colour changes which can be effectively masked by camouflage cream.
Some causes of skin scarring:
- Injuries of all kinds can cause scarring, especially if the injury is severe. The injury may accidental (such as a that caused by a severe burn, a dog bite, an assault or any other accident), or it may be due to self-harm or a result of a surgical operation. Scarring does not consist simply of colour changes in the skin, but causes thickening, thinning or other changes to the normal contour of the skin surface.
- Skin disorders, especially severe acne of the face and trunk, can cause scarring. A less common scarring condition is called discoid lupus, which affects particularly sun-exposed areas such as the face and V of the neck.
- Stretch marks are regarded by some experts as a special type of scarring following damage to collagen by stretching of the skin. Stretch marks are seen in teenagers following the growth spurt. In boys they occur particularly on the outer thighs and horizontally on the lower back. In girls they are seen on the thighs, bottom and chest, but there is much variation. Body builders may develop them over their shoulders. The stretch marks of pregnancy are seen on the abdomen and chest. Treatment of the skin with strong steroid creams may also cause localised stretch marks, for example in the thin skin in front of the elbows in young people with atopic eczema.
Colour changes due to scarring can be hidden with camouflage cream, but this cream cannot mask changes in the texture of the skin surface.
…are usually done deliberately but are occasionally the result of an accident such as a blast injury. Attempts at tattoo removal may also leave the skin with increased or decreased pigmentation, redness and scarring.
These appearances may all be helped by the use of camouflage creams.
…include an artificial ear or nose. These may not always match the colour of the surrounding skin, for example as the seasons change and the skin becomes more or less tanned.
Matching of the colour and join of the prosthesis to that of the surrounding skin may be achieved by applying camouflage cream to the prosthesis or to the surrounding skin or to both.
- Erythema means redness of the skin.
- Hyperpigmentation means increased pigmentation.
- Hypopigmentation means decreased pigmentation.
- Skin lesion is a term used by doctors to refer to any abnormality of the skin. It does not refer to any specific condition.
- Striae are stretch marks.
- Telangiectasia are thread veins of the skin.
- Trauma means injury.
