Sunspots (Hyper Pigmentation)- How to Get Rid of It, Home Remedies for Hyper Pigmentation

How to Get Rid Sunspots (Hyper Pigmentation)

Hyper pigmentation, an umbrella term for sun spots, age and brown/ liver spots, is a major skin woe for women. Inlay terms, hyper pigmentation is an overproduction of melanin, usually from cumulative over-exposure to the sun. If you spit-roasted in your twenties, sunspots – as we’ll call them all – are almost a given. (Melasma is another type of hyper pigmentation usually triggered by pregnancy, the use of oral contraceptives, or in some women by hormone replacement.) Facially, it can range from a freckle to diffuse, all-over discoloration.

How to Get Rid Sunspots (Hyper Pigmentation)

How to Get Rid Sunspots (Hyper Pigmentation)

By our forties, there’s a 50% probability that we’ll develop at least one or two ‘sunspots’, which also appear on the hands, decolletage and the tops of the feet. Darker-skinned individuals are more susceptible to sunspots, say experts, than naturally fair people.

How To Get Rid Of Sunspots

Here are the various products available in the market to deal with sunspots

Zealous sun protection can protect against sunspots. And it’s never too late to start. How to get rid of existing ones is a challenge that the cosmetic world is currently trying to overcome. Some attempted treatments have been drastic. Harmful ingredients like mercury have been used in skin bleaching products – and only recently banned worldwide because of their toxicity. People were poisoning themselves because they were unhappy with their skin colour.

If you feel self-conscious about sunspots, good camouflage makeup should be your first step.

Safer lightening creams with ingredients such as fruit acids (AHAs and BHAs) may reduce sun spots, exfoliating the top skin layers while a bleaching agent, such as hydroquinone, a synthetic chemical, lightens the newly forming cells. But be aware that even the over-the-counter skin lighteners are potent creams- and have to be used forever to maintain results, so weigh that up in your mind before you go down the ‘skin-bleaching’ route…

High-dose hydroquinone creams are available only through dermatologists, but many over-the-counter formulations contain lower percentages. However, it can take two to three months of daily application for the colour to fade noticeably.

Hydroquinone has downsides, too as it kills the skin cells. It can assault the skin and it is too harsh to use on the face.

Some skin experts, meanwhile, are excited about an alternative, gentler fading agent from the Orient: kojic acid derived from mushrooms. Unlike hydroquinone, kojic acid can be used all over the face. It will lighten dark areas but not bleach normal skin colour. Kojic acid also helps over-pigmented areas left by acne lesions. We recommend patch testing any skin lightening cream on the inner forearm, and waiting 24 hours to see if there is any redness, itching, burning or irritation, before applying to the face.

Home Remedies for Hyper Pigmentation

Home Remedies for Hyper Pigmentation

Confusingly, products are now appearing on the market labelled ‘whitening’ or ‘Brightening’; they aren’t intended to bleach or whiten the skin at all but to enhance translucency and luminosity. (Most contain vitamin C derivatives or, in some cases, extracts from sheep or cow placentas.) So, if you specifically want to fade sun spots, make sure you get the right product.

Unfortunately, the effects of any of these treatments for sunspots will only last as long as you use the product. And be aware: maintenance means a serious daily commitment to SPF plus sunscreen, outdoors and in, because the skin becomes ‘photo sensitized’ i.e., susceptible to UV rays. If lightened skin is exposed to the sun, it produces, even more, melanin and you could end up worse off than you started.’

Retin-A and Retinova can both help to fade sun spots and, more drastically, skin peels and laser treatments. But remember that whatever technique you resort to, sunspots will return – unless you stay away from the sun.

Home Remedies for Hyper Pigmentation

Aloe vera:-

Use aloe vera gel directly from the plant and apply a generous coating of gel on the affected area. Use daily for best results. Aloe vera has a compound called aloesin which helps to lighten hyperpigmentation marks. It also helps to inhibit the production of melanocytes.

Liquorice:-

Licorice has been used for ages for skin lightening. Use creams containing liquorice. You can also use liquorice powder with water and apply it on the affected areas and wash it off with warm water.

Green tea:-

You can green tea in its original form. Use green tea bag and mix it with honey. Apply on the affected area and leave it for 30 minutes then wash off with cold water.