What skin condition is super common but the most difficult to completely get rid of? MELASMA!
Patients ask me all the time how to improve their melasma. And unfortunately, it’s not easy.
Melasma presents as patchy areas of pigment in the deeper layers of the skin, often after pregnancy or when taking birth control pills. It’s sometimes called the “Mask of Pregnancy.”
Melasma can be made worse by a relatively mild amount of sun exposure, and the condition is almost impossible to completely get rid of. That being said, here are some solutions to help significantly reduce melasma:
Apply sunscreen with at least spf 50. Preventing UV exposure to your skin is key to preventing melasma from worsening. Higher spf’s can pay off here.
Apply skin lightening creams. Although they likely won’t make a HUGE difference, any amount of pigment lightening in melasma can help.
Get a prescription for tranexamic acid (TXA). This is a newer treatment for melasma that is showing quite a bit of promise.
Talk with a dermatologist about chemical peels and lasers. These treatments can make melasma better, but some can also make it worse. Before embarking on any aggressive treatment for melasma, make sure to consult with a board-certified dermatologist.
This week’s podcast is a solo episode where I give you the tools and information to treat melasma and other types of hyperpigmentation such as age/sunspots.
I start by explaining the differences between these two types of unwanted pigmentation and progress to how they are treated differently. By the end of the episode, you’ll know exactly what to do to get rid of YOUR unwanted pigmentation!
To listen to Why Your Dark Spots Won’t Go Away (And How to Finally Fix Them) on Apple devices, click HERE. To listen on Spotify, click HERE.
