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"I'm so tired of
fighting all these brown spots. What's causing this problem
and what can I do to stop it?"
This patient is certainly
not alone. Hyperpigmentation and skin discoloration drives a
huge cosmetic industry.
Women spend hundreds and
thousands of dollars in the quest to cover up or get rid of
brown patches.
Is there a way to prevent
them in the first place? Or at least stop them from coming
back?
Yes -
and No
The two
biggest "spot makers" are sun exposure and hormones. You
can't always change your hormones but you can change your
sun exposure habits.
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Prevention - What you can do
The most effective way to avoid sun-related spots and dots is to protect your skin from UVA (sunshine) in the first
place. That's a hard to follow recommendation, but if you
get in the habit of every day sun protection, you WILL notice
improvement - even without treatment. But, skip a day and
those melanin cells will wake up and start their work all
over again.
You do need a separate
sunscreen (opt for 30SPF and above).
Hormones cause pigment-making
cells to go into overdrive. Melasma is a frequent
accompaniment to pregnancy, birth control pills and
menopause. The sun makes it all the more apparent. Certainly
less controllable than hyperpigmentation caused by sun, your
best prevention measure is to cover up - sunscreen, hats,
long sleeves.
A few choices for the fastest hyperpigmentation control?
Cosmelan MD - lightens existing pigmentation, suppresses new
pigment formation and protects
Chemical Peels - Often "forgotten", chemical peels still
provide excellent and affordable improvement for melasma and
discoloration from sun damage.
IPL - Light treatment for breaking up and speeding up
exfoliation of brown pigment
ActiveFX
- Fractional CO2 laser
Fraxel Restore - Series based fractional laser
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