How is hypopigmentation treated?
Hypopigmentation treatment depends on what caused your skin to lighten.
If you have hypopigmentation from injuries to your skin or skin treatment, you likely won’t need treatment. Your skin cells will start to make melanin again as your affected areas heal. Hypopigmentation will usually go away after a few weeks or months.
If you have pityriasis alba, psoriasis or eczema, hypopigmentation usually goes away on its own without treatment. It may take a few weeks or months.
If hypopigmentation is a symptom of a skin condition, certain medications can treat it. These medications may include corticosteroids and topical calcineurin inhibitors, including tacrolimus ointment and pimecrolimus cream.
Phototherapy is effective if you have hypopigmentation from laser treatments (laser-induced hypopigmentation). These treatments include laser hair removal, laser tattoo removal or laser skin resurfacing. It uses ultraviolet (UV) light from special lamps. Your healthcare provider may use a drug called psoralen combined with ultraviolet A (PUVA) or ultraviolet B (UVB). Studies suggest that phototherapy helps treat laser-induced hypopigmentation in skin of color.
There aren’t any effective treatments for albinism or scars that have hypopigmentation.
Is hypopigmentation permanent?
It depends on what’s causing your hypopigmentation.
If you have albinism or hypopigmentation from scars, it’s permanent.
Hypopigmentation from injuries, treatments and certain skin conditions may go away on its own or go away after treatment.
What can I do at home to treat hypopigmentation?
Certain home remedies may help improve the appearance of your hypopigmentation. These may include:
- Cosmetics. Makeup, self-tanner or skin dye help make hypopigmentation less visible.
- Sunscreen. The sun can be especially damaging to areas of your skin with hypopigmentation. Use sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30 to help protect your affected areas.
Home remedies are safe for most people. However, it’s a good idea to check with your healthcare provider before trying some of these options.
Does vitamin C help hypopigmentation?
Some people believe that vitamin C may help hypopigmentation in damaged skin. Vitamin C helps protect the cells in your body and helps form collagen. Collagen gives structure, strength and elasticity to your skin.
You may take vitamin C as an oral supplement, or you may apply it directly onto your skin. Vitamin C lotions or creams make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so use sunscreen on a daily basis while using a product that contains vitamin C.
FAQs
Hypopigmentation is a lightening of your skin color. Injuries or skin conditions are the primary cause of hypopigmentation. Treatment depends on what caused hypopigmentation, but it may involve medications or therapies. If you have scars or albinism, there's no treatment available.
What is the best treatment for hypopigmentation? ›
The most effective treatment for eliminating these spots and other skin pigmentation is laser therapy, which usually includes little to no downtime after treatment.
How to get rid of hypopigmentation naturally? ›
Home Remedies
If you apply powdered bakuchi seeds in coconut oil on hypopigmented patches over time, these patches can fade away. Ginger juice, and especially ginger roots, helps to treat hypopigmentation. For best results, rub ginger directly onto scars with hypopigmentation twice a day.
What bacteria causes hypopigmentation? ›
Progressive macular hypomelanosis (PMH) is a hypopigmentation disease mostly affecting humans who have dark skin. This hypopigmentation disease differs from other hypopigmentation disorders, such as leukoderma and vitiligo, as it is caused by a bacterium known as Propionibacterium acnes.
What medication causes hypopigmentation? ›
Oral drugs have also been noted to cause hypopigmentation: EGFR inhibitors (gefitinib), Bcr-abl inhibitors (imatinib and dasatinib), VEGFR inhibitors (pazopanib, sunitinib), BRAF inhibitors (vemurafenib), and interleukin-2 (IL-2) have all been reported to cause hypopigmentation.
Why am I getting hypopigmentation? ›
Injuries or skin conditions are the primary cause of hypopigmentation. Treatment depends on what caused hypopigmentation, but it may involve medications or therapies. If you have scars or albinism, there's no treatment available.
How do I get my melanin back? ›
Currently, no safe or proven method exists to increase melanin – the pigment, or color, in a person's skin, hair, and eyes. A person's genetics determine their natural melanin levels and skin color. In general, people who have darker skin tones have more melanin than those with lighter skin tones.
What is the best ointment for hypopigmentation? ›
Topical ointments like TriLuma and Hydroquinone are very effective against hypopigmentation. They help to even out the skin tone by bleaching the entire skin surface.
What is the best supplement for hypopigmentation? ›
Supplements such as vitamin D3 can help to repigment the affected areas but again, this isn't a fail-safe treatment. Sufferers should also try to avoid stress as much as possible to help naturally increase Vitamin D3 levels”. This is because there is an intimate link between our vitamin D levels and stress.
What foods help with hypopigmentation? ›
Rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, fruits and vegetables can help protect the skin from oxidative stress. Berries, citrus fruits, spinach, kale, and carrots are examples of skin-friendly produce.
Your individual outlook depends on what's causing your hypopigmentation. Skin cell damage from wounds, burns, and infections will likely heal over time and then be able to give your skin color again. Pityriasis alba also goes away on its own. Tinea versicolor tends to clear up once you've taken antifungals.
Which vitamin causes hypopigmentation? ›
A loss of pigmentation in your skin can occur if you're deficient in folate, and it also increases your risk of folate-deficiency anemia, which leads to pale-looking skin. Since folate is found in a variety of foods, it's easy to increase your intake.
Who gets hypopigmentation? ›
Pale patches of skin can occur if a person has certain genetic features, if they experience some types of inflammation, if trauma occurs, such as a burn, and for other reasons. Some of these, such as albinism, are lifelong conditions. Others, such as vitiligo, appear later in life.
What is the fastest way to cure hypopigmentation? ›
Repigmentation is achieved by medications, phototherapy, and surgical procedures. Medications - There are topical and systemic medications. Topical corticosteroids - Low dose corticosteroids are used as first-line drugs in many hypopigmented conditions. They are known to accelerate the repigmentation process.
What is the disease associated with hypopigmentation? ›
Hypopigmentation and depigmentation of the skin can be due to multiple causes and has a broad differential diagnosis. The most common cause of depigmentation worldwide is vitiligo. This disorder affects 1-2% of the world's population and is seen in all races.
Can stress cause hypopigmentation? ›
These activities can eventually result in decreased skin pigmentation. Our findings raise the possibility that chronic stress could be a risk factor for depigmentation by disrupting the cutaneous HPA axis and should prompt dermatologists to exercise more caution when using glucocorticoids for treatment.
What cream is good for hypopigmentation scars? ›
Using Latisse to Add Pigment Back to White (Hypopigmented) Scars. As time passes, it's not uncommon for physicians to find an alternative or off-label uses for medications and in the case of Latisse, that's actually how it's cosmetic use started.
Can lost skin pigment be restored? ›
Light therapy exposes your skin to a type of ultraviolet (UV) light that can restore your natural skin color. If a large area of your body needs treatment, your dermatologist may prescribe a type of light therapy called phototherapy. During phototherapy, you expose your skin to UV light for a specific amount of time.
