facial dark patches

mellymoo74

Medication last year has given me a patch of darker skin what will get rid of it

olly300

Are you still taking the medication? If not when did you stop taking it?

Odd questions but if you answer I will explain why.

mellymoo74

No stopped last summer as there were other lovely side effects.

Using facial sun screen.

The patch is on my left cheekbone and is very noticible.

olly300

Lots of drug induced pigmentation tends to go after the drugs have been stopped but if it's not improved 6 months after stopping, you need to go to the GP and ask to be referred to a dermatologist.

Make it clear the patch is really distressing you.

There are things you could try but they can damage your skin so don't try them.

Some GPs are sh*t and will only do a referral if you ask for it twice or show you are really distressed.

A few people I know have damaged their skins first by going to beauticians before their GP would refer them. One person I'm related wears camouflage make-up on their face thanks to this.

Fire_Fox

Have you had a doctor look at it or are you trying to self diagnose and self treat? Is the hyperpigmentation at the dermal or epidermal level? I suspect you will only get referred to a private dermatologist on the NHS: even if not the range of treatments the NHS can offer is very limited, the most common being a chemical I wouldn't put on my skin in a million years.

There are topical products that are effective on epidermal hyperpigmentation - AFAIK almost nothing is effective on dermal - some you can only get through a dermatologist others you can purchase and use yourself, some of which are safe if used sensibly, others much harsher and really would be better used under supervision. In the short term the most important thing you can do is wear a high factor physical sunscreen (micronised zinc and/ or titanium dioxide) all year round. Every topical treatment will increase the turnover of skin anyway which leaves skin more vulnerable to UV damage. Most of us in this country don't use a high enough factor, don't apply the right quantity, don't reapply frequently enough.

Also review your diet, hyperpigmentation has an inflammatory component so it would be best to be eating more anti inflammatory/ antioxidant rich foods (esp. oily fish, low sugar fruits, non starchy vegetables) and fewer pro inflammatory ones (sugar, white refined carbs, omega-6 rich oils, alcohol, larger servings of meat, saturated animal fats). You may need to consider bioavailable vitamin D (oily fish) if you are wearing sunscreen on exposed skin religiously. Not too far off your basic healthy diet!

System

I was in Boots today and I think I saw a product for this. I am trying to remember what it was now! I think it might have been an Avene lotion. If you have a large Boots store near you it might be worth a look.

System

http://www.boots.com/en/Eau-Thermale-Avene-D-Pigment-Rich-Dark-Spot-Lightener-30ml_1261957/

I think this was the one.

xpinkladyx

Give eucerin even brighter range a try, there's a spot corrector pen and a day and night moisturiser.
Dermatologist recommended them to me and I'm pretty sure it's making a difference.