In some people, some dark flat patches appear on their different parts of body. A question arrives in their mind that why am I getting dark patches on my skin? Those dark patches of skin are called melasma. In this article, we will discuss;
- How to treat melasma from inside and outside?
- How can I protect myself from melasma?
“Melasma is a skin disorder in which dark or light brown flat patches appear on your skin.”
The patches also appear in the blue-grey color and look like freckles. Usually, they appear on face area like cheeks, upper lips, for-head and chin. They also appear on hands and arms but it is uncommon condition.
How Can I Know I Have Melasma?
When you see light/dark brown or blue grey patches on your skin, it is a sign that you have melasma. The patches of melasma are clearly visible on white skin. But on dark skin, they are slightly darker than normal skin’s color.
What Are The Main Causes Of Melasma?
Melasma is caused by many reasons like sun exposure, skin cancer, pregnancy, hormones, poor liver, etc. But the major reasons of this disorder are hyper-pigmentation and hormones problem. The deficiency of vitamin B12 also causes it.
Treatment Of Melasma From The Inside:
Melasma appears on the outside but you can also treat them from the inside. There are three steps you can take to cure melasma from the inside.
1 – Hormonal Balance:
Hormonal imbalance is one of the most common causes of melasma. The imbalance of hormones occurs more in women than men. Mostly, hormonal imbalance happens before, during and after pregnancy. Poor liver and high stress levels can also cause imbalance of hormones.
Two hormones are responsible of melasma. You should go to doctor for solving hormonal imbalance problem. A good dermatologist will prescribe you medicine for inside treatment.
2 – Balancing Diet:
Healthy diet is best thing to solve all the issues. It also helps in increasing recovery chances of melasma. Good diets work as natural medicines to treat skin issues from the inside.
Here are several diets you can take to solve issues like pigmentation, thyroid, liver problem, etc. that cause melasma. They are:
- Leafy green vegetables.
- Fresh and juicy fruits.
- Water.
- Green tea.
- Fish.
- Nuts.
- Cereals.
- Dairy products like yogurt.
All these diets are rich in kojic acid, hydroquine and vitamin C. These minerals slowly relieves melasma by attacking from inside.
3 – Mental Health Improvement:
Your mental health is equally involved along with physical health in combatting melasma. When your mental health is not good it leads to stress and stress is directly related to melasma.
Fulfill your sleep and keep yourself calm. It will relieve your stress which helps in control hormones. Hence no hyperpigmentation will happen and melasma will decrease as a result.
Melasma Treatment From The Outside:
There is no best treatment to treat melasma so far. But you can do some treatments to decrease their appearance.
1 – Use Of Medicated Creams:
Go to a doctor or dermatologist for proper checkup of melasma. He will closely look at that and prescribe you the medicated cream for treatment. It may decrease or totally remove the appearance of melasma. Apply it on skin according to doctor prescription.
2 – Chemical Peeling Of Skin:
Using a chemical peel is also good for melasma treatment. Chemical peels off the outer layer of skin. The melasma affected skin will peel off and new layer from inside will come out. That new layer of skin has less number of melasma than the older one.
3 – Hydroquinone:
It is the common treatment of melasma. It also has the ability to make your even skin tone. Apply it on skin according to doctor prescribtions.
4 – Other Medications:
Other medications prescribed by dermatologists have kojic acid and vitamins C and B in them. You can also go for pigment reducing medications to slow down hyperpigmentation. Do not use any product without doctor prescription.
5 – Laser Treatments:
Laser treatments are a little bit costly but they are very helpful in removing melasma. If you have a lot of melasma on face, you should go for laser treatment. It will completely remove melasma from your face and other parts of skin.
Can I Treat Melasma At Home?
As the treatment of melasma is a little bit expensive, a question arrives in mind that can we treat melasma at home? The answer to this question is both yes and no. It means that you can do some home remedies and preventions to decrease their appearance. But you cannot treat them totally at home.
If you want to know the home remedies to treat melasma you can read this article; Home remedy hacks to treat melasma.
Conclusion:
Melasma is not a harmful disease but sometimes, it may be a sign of a harmful disease like cancer. However there is not a best treatment of melasma. But you can do some smaller treatments to decrease their appearance.
You can completely remove them in little time if they are less visible and small in number. But on the other side they may stay for months, years or even lifetime.
FAQ’s
What causes internal melasma?
Hormones disturbance and pregnancy cause internal melasma.
What hormones cause melasma?
Estrogen, progesterone, and melanocyte-stimulating hormone cause melasma.
Can melasma fade naturally?
Yes they may fade overtime naturally when your body starts becoming healthy after pregnancy.
What is the best cleanser for melasma?
A cleanser with rich in salicylic acid and a peeling chemical is best for melasma.