Have you recently started to notice dark spots forming on your face? Maybe they are quite faint at the moment and there are only a couple, so you want to address them before they become more noticeable. Dark spots, also called hyperpigmentation, aren’t unusual and usually tend to show up more as you age. They can often be due to sun exposure, which causes skin damage, but can also be due to inflammation, or even hormones.
If it’s something you are feeling self-conscious about and want to reduce the look of them, or even get rid of them altogether, there are some treatments you can try.
Chapter Overview
Try a Skin Lightening Serum or Cream
A really great place to get started with fading your dark spots is to use a skin-lightening serum or cream that contains the ingredient hydroquinone. If you purchase this cream over the counter, it offers a 2% strength of the ingredient. If you get a prescription, you can get hydroquinone that is at 12% strength, which can obviously offer faster and better results.
Introduce a Chemical Exfoliator to Your Routine
Another step is to introduce a chemical exfoliator into your daily routine. There are a number of different types available, so it may take some trial and error to find the one that your skin reacts best to. Chemical exfoliants are:
- Salicylic acid
- Alpha hydroxy acid (AHA)
- Beta hydroxy acid (BHA)
- Azelaic acid
- Lactic acid
- Glycolic acid
- Mandelic acid
You can find these ingredients in facial cleansers, toners, moisturizers, and serums. It’s really a matter of finding the mix that works best for your skin.
Retinoid Can be Another Powerful Player
Then there is retinoic acid, which can be another powerful player in your quest to diminish the look of your dark spots. Retinoids work to speed up your cell turnover rate, which then speeds up exfoliation. The result is healthy glowing skin growth. Just be careful because retinoids can be quite drying to the skin so you probably don’t want to use them daily. As well, it will make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so you need to be sure you’re wearing plenty of SPF.
Laser Dark Spot Treatment
If you’re not seeing results from the at-home treatments, serums, and products then it may be time to step things up and look into laser dark spot reduction treatment. In this treatment, a wavelength of light is used directly on the dark spots. That dark spot’s cells absorb all the light and then end up peeling off a few days later. The process is relatively painless, fast, and can offer real and lasting results after just a few treatments. This can be used anywhere on your face or body that has dark spots.
Start Getting Some Real Results
If you want to address those dark spots that have shown up on your face, each of these treatments can offer some very effective and real results.