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Toddlers: 24 Months+
acaudill75
member
Melasma question
acaudill75
member
I developed melasma after I started taking the pill at 30. It as only on my upper lip and a very thin line, so I kind of just ignored it. Then, with DD1, it got a little worse, above my eye brows, but still, nothing I couldn't deal with. With DD2's pregnancy, my skin is a hot mess. I am very fair, and I stay out of the sun for fear of skin cancer (I was in the sun a lot as kid and young adult, but perhaps the last seven years I have tried to stay out of it). I went to a dermatologist, and he said I have a very interesting case in how it presents itself. Yay me. Anyway, I noticed that the brown pigmentation is growing steadily outward, being replaced by pinkish white skin that is my natural skin color. The Dr. said I could get microdermabrasion, laser peels, or do a skin regimen to help the process take a lot less time. They were all $400 and up, so that is a no go. Anyone else have this problem, and how long did it take to go away??? Did it go away completely? I'm not having anymore kids, and my husband had a vasectomy, so no more hormones for birth control.
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Re: Melasma question
I use a OTC daily dark spot corrector with SPF, and a nightly peel- and I still take hormonal BCP. It has faded a lot. Also stopping taking BCP will help since it is a hormonal response. It can take a while- like a year- to completely fade.
Crazy, enough, I will take a year if that is all it takes to fade away!!! I feel like it makes me look sickly and older. I have it under my eyes too, so that I look like I have some blood disorder or something. Thanks for the tips.
Hmmm...interesting, I have talked to 3 different providers and all have pretty much said that the creams & peels can help but are temporary help and that time and avoiding sun is the best way and that there is a chance I'll have it for life. I think it is very individual specific . I am fortunate that in winter it is not very obvious but in summer as soon as the sun starts hitting me it comes up so since it hasn't been too terrible, I have not tried any of those creams, etc b/c it seemed to me that there was mixed evidence of success and a lot of maintenance and cost but maybe next summer I'll look into them since ppl have had success w/ them! I wear the highest sunscreen I can on my face in summer & have a visor on pretty much everywhere we go (park, pool, zoo, etc. )
One thing I did find that I like a lot is the bare escentuals/bare minerals makeup line- I went in the store & had them show me how to use their products and pick the right shade to cover my melasma and I find it to be very light, easy to use and hides it relatively well.
I will say in thinking about it, I first noticed it when I changed pills after having my kids in the summer of 2009 and I think this past summer it was not as noticeable as in past summers, so maybe it is getting better (or I am getting better about protecting myself, not sure).
Groovygrl -
Mine is actually moving around on my face. The derm. said he thought it was a very interesting pattern because of the way the pigmentation was presenting itself. I think if mine is so interesting, he should do my peels and all pro bono and put my case in a journal, haha!
You are probably getting better at protecting your skin. Even if I never get rid of it, I'm sort of glad that I got it, because it got me out of the sun, where I was only going to do severe damage to myself!