The pigmentation of skin does not really play any role in the type of skin condition that may occur. However, in case of African American skin care as well as with other dark complexions there are a few problems involving skin care that are more prevalent.

Take for instance acne, which is a chronic disorder which has the characteristics of excess production of oil from sebaceous glands that exist in hair follicles on the face, chest and back to become plugged. For African American skin care, acne could have caused long lasting discoloration of the skin and one needs to use topical agents that will greatly reduce skin irritation.

Special Safety Razors

A common African American skin care issue concerns ingrown hair. Because African Americans have curly hair with curved hair shafts that also occur in their beards and other body hair, it will often cause the hair to curl back into the skin after shaving. This in turn causes piercing in the wall of the hair follicle resulting in bumps that are known as pseudofolliculitis barbae. In such cases, African American skin care would involve trying different shaving methods which may include special kinds of safety razors that do stretch the skin while shaving.

African American skin care also needs to treat variations in skin color. African American skin consist of large melanosomes which are the cells that determine the color of the skin and these contain more of the pigment called melanin as compared to those found in white skinned people. The protective effect of melanin causes African Americans to have more protection against skin cancer as well as prevents premature wrinkling as a result of exposure to the sun. In such cases African American skin care requires that they should not scrub the skin harshly and also avoid abrasive treatments.

A common African American skin care condition is known as Vitiligo in which the pigment cells get destroyed and there are irregular white patches appearing on the skin. The amount of loss of color is different from person to person and there are also instances of people losing pigment all over their bodies. African American skin care methods involve using topical medications that include corticosteroids as well as new non-steroid anti-inflammatory preparations. When vitiligo is present all over the body, it may be most advisable to destroy the normal pigment that remains and one needs to see a dermatologist for further treatment.

Another common African American skin care issue is called keloids and this refers to when a scar from a cut or wound spreads beyond the size of the original wound. Keloids may occur in different sizes, shapes as well as locations and are very common in brown and black skinned people. The African American skin care procedure for keloids is to take cortisone injections or silicone gels, get surgery or laser treatments or even radiation therapy. However, keloids may return and even become bigger, especially following surgical treatment.