To treat melasma successfully, you must find out what triggers melasma in the first. If your skin develop melasma easily under the sun, then you should avoid the sun or wear a sunscreen. If it is due to your hormones, then find a way to keep them in balance. There are other things you can do for your melasma like using a dark spot corrector, get enough sleep and eat healthily.
Patience is a must when treating melasma. It takes time for melasma to respond to the treatment.
Whatever treatment you decide, make sure it is not harsh to the extent that it cause contact dermatitis, which eventually will lead to postinflammatory hyperpigmentation.
Exfoliation can rejuvenate your skin by stimulating new layer of skin to grow. But can it reduce melasma?
Probably if your melasma is superficial, the chances are good. Some women tried costly dermatological procedures such as IPL, chemical peels and microdermabrasion but there were no improvement.
However, when they exfoliate their skin, they could see the melasma greatly reduced.
One key fact to remember is that nothing is permanent. The moment you step into the sun, you will start to see your melasma again.
If you decide to exfoliate your skin, make it as part of your daily skin care regimen. This is the secret to manage melasma successfully.
Julia, my friend had been battling with melasma ever since her first child was born. She is now in the forties and her descent is Latino.
Her melasma began with symmetrical round masks on both cheeks. Gradually, they covered the whole cheeks.She also had one brown patch on her forehead.
She had tried everything except laser which was too expensive for her. She started to improve her makeup skills, and finally she managed to make her melasma less evident.
Here is her morning routine with makeup.
- She washes her face with a good cleanser.
- Then she applies sunless tanner on lighter areas. For the dark areas, she uses an OTC skin lightening cream.
- Let it set for 5 minutes.
- Then she applies tinted correcting primer on her face followed by a foundation. For even tone, use a brush to blend both light and dark areas.
- Lastly, finish it with a bronzer on the light areas. Make sure it blends with the dark areas.
These steps should make your melasma less noticeable. Remember that this is a temporary fix.
Retin-A (tretinoin) is applied topically on melasma. It can be harsh. Sometimes, you may end up with contact dermatitis.
Doctors still do not understand how Retin-A reduce melasma. Probably the best explanation goes like this. Retin-A is used for skin exfoliation to encourage new cells to be generated. This process removes dead skin cells which build up on the surface of the skin and hold excess melanin within them.
According to Skin Care Center, it may take up to 24 weeks to see improvements. Most often, Retin-A is used together with other tyrosinase inhibitors such as azelaic acid or hydroquinone for better results.
It would be ideal if laser can just remove the pigments without affecting the cells. One laser that can do that is IPL. You have to use tyrosinase inhibitors such as hydroquinone, tretinoin, and steroid before and after laser therapy. However, there is risk of post inflammatory pigmentation which may delay recovery. This is an important fact to know as you need to attend several sessions of IPL.
There are different types of laser treatment for melasma. The cost varies from one type of laser to another. The cost will be higher if you require more than one session. Adding to the cost will also depend on the experience of the doctor. So, how much is laser treatment for melasma?
For fractional lasers, one session can cost more than $1,000. Probably 3 to 4 treatments are required for a duration of between 3 and 6 months.
The question of safety with laser in treating melasma is still controversial. If you are using Fraxel, open wound is almost non existent. So the chances of developing postinflammatory pigmentation are low.
It is important to choose the right laser for your melasma. It all boils down to correct settings of the laser to minimize any potential side effects while striving to get best results. Thus, choosing the right doctor with experience is essential.
