Melanin Injections
Facts About Melanin, Melanin Injections and Your Skin
Some people will do anything to get a tan, and that includes getting melanin injections to boost the skin’s natural ability to darken up. While on the surface injecting hormones that will make you tan may seem like vanity at its peek, but research may be revealing that adding extra melanin - via melanin injections - can actually help prevent some skin cancer. And it really does bring out that tan.
So What Is Melanin?
First things first. Melanin is a natural substance found in all humans, and it influences the coloring of our skin. People with more natural melanin have darker skin, and those without so much melanin will have a paler skin tone. Melanin is also responsible for the dark brown and black pigments that we see in hair color and even in the color of the eyes to a certain degree.
Melanin is produced naturally, but production is also stimulated by exposure to the sun. In fact, melanin is the reason we get a tan when we lay out in the sun. The sun triggers more melanin production which then causes our skin to become darker.
What Are Melanin Injections?
Melanin injections are made up of a synthetic hormone that is man-made. A melanin injection is not actual melanin, rather it is a substance created to mimic the actions of melanin in our bodies. In other words, it will darken skin tone and lead to a tan. The name of this newly created hormone is Melanotan, and this is the substance that has been researched over the past few years.
So far no research has been revealed that shows many negative results occurring from getting a melanin injection. There have been a few side effects reports, such as nausea, headaches and leg pain. For the most part, however, the studies have shown that a melanin injection does pretty much what it was designed to do: darken the skin, or give you a sunless tan.
One thing that may present an issue for some people when it comes to the injectable tan is the injection itself. There are not many folks out there who enjoy getting poked with a needle, so this type of tanning is definitely subject to personal preference. The melanin is generally injected into the abdominal area, and it will usually cause a bit of pain at the time of the injection. Yet another drawback is the fact that melanin injections must be done repeatedly – we’re talking every day here – for a matter of weeks or even months to achieve the desired darkening effect.
And What About Your Skin?
Research that has been completed thus far has shown that injecting melanin does not seem to have a negative impact on the skin. It does make the skin darker, but that is usually the main reason for a melanin injection so there is no problem there. On the positive side, it would seem that melanin injections may reduce the occurrence of skin cancer. There are a number of possible reasons for this, the most obvious being that darker skin will not be as susceptible to sunburn. Dark skin that contains more melanin is less likely to be affected by the dangerous UVA and UVB rays of the sun that are known to cause skin cancer.
There is another benefit as well, boosting the melanin content in the skin may reduce the affects of early skin damage and lessen the signs of aging. Darker skin is more resistant to the damaging and burning rays of the sun that can cause wrinkles and other skin problems as you age.