All skin types, be it African-American skin, European, Asian or Caucasian have the same structure and consist of the three main layers: epidermis, dermis and fatty layer. Epidermis is the first one and outermost layer, dermis is the middle one structural layer, fatty layer is the innermost one. Pigmented cells called melanocytes are situated at the base of epidermis. These cells produce skin pigmentation. People with the dark skin have more melanocyts with high pigment production that provides natural sun damage protection. A sun tan and age spots are the result of the sun damage and don’t provide the same protection as the dark skin.

Microdermabrasion is the only non-surgical resurfacing treatment considered to be safe for dark and black skin because it’s mild exfoliating treatment. Microdermabrasion procedure is appropriate for all skin colors including black skin. This treatment sandblasts only the outermost skin layer made of dead cells. It causes no damage to live tissue and doesn’t cause any scarring or severe irritation. The skin exfoliation process of microdermabrasion help the skin renew quicker and more effectively.

Black skin is often more sensitive than white skin because it has more melanin. Brown skin is darker than Caucasian skin because of the greater amount of melanocytes, and therefore it reacts more violently to stress. As a result of this black skin may suffer irritations, breakouts and permanent discolorations when exposed to mechanical and chemical factors, UV rays and pollution.

Microdermabrasion treatment and black skin:

When you are taking professional microdermabrasion treatment, specialists who perform microdermabrasion on black skinned person can reduce the speed of abrading the skin in order to minimize the risk of skin injury.

Black skinned patients often may need longer time to recovery from the skin exfoliation, so they need about three weeks for recovery between microdermabrasion procedures.

At-home microdermabrasion is milder than professional procedure so it’s more safe for dark skin. When using a personal microdermabrasion kit, always do a patch test first and don’t overdo the massage to avoid injuring your skin.

Before and after care for microdermabrasion treatment are similar for both black and white skin.

Related articles:

Chemical peels for dark skin
Skin peels for African-American skin