In some of the areas that I’ve had treated, I was left with these sort of ingrown hairs that I stupidly decided to pick and and mutilate until I forced the dead hair follicles out. Now I’m left with a few dark spots that look really similar to acne scars (looks terrible). I’ve been using Mederma (a scar cream) to try and reduce their noticeability, but it doesn’t seem to be working (I’ve been using it for a while). Is there a better cream I can be using? What about a skin lightening cream? Those make me kind of nervous, but maybe they would work? If so, are they permanent? And can you use them on tanned skin?
I hope this topic is relevant enough to be in the LHR section, I apologize if it’s not. I just really hate my dark spots and they did occur after my treatment (with my help…)
thank you =)
Cathy, how many treatments do you have left on these areas? Have you contacted your laser practitioner about this issue?
Depending on the severity, you may need to see a dermatologist. Hyper/Hypo pigmentation caused by the laser will usually heal itself in time. Darker skin tones take longer to heal.
I would contact your laser practitioner ASAP and perhaps a dermatologist.
Cathy, it’s okay that you posted here on the laser forum, but it would have been better to post on the ‘Tips For Skin Care’
forum because laser hair reduction has nothing to do with your ingrown hair problem that you have been digging at to cause your skin reaction.
Mederma has not been proven effective and you are saying it hasn’t done beans for you, so I would not waste $20 on purchasing any more tubes of Mederma.
You can do a search on this website for ‘hyperpigmentation’. Go to the box on the right top side and type it in. There is a lot of good info here on hairtell. Hydroquinone is a cream that is better in prescription strength, but maybe you would like to investigate more natural ingredients that have kogic acid or licorice root extract. There is a website called ‘skin and allergy news’ where you can peruse to get more information on hyperpigmentation.
Ingrown hairs need to be dealt with permanently. Electrolysis is the sure bet for for any hair size, hair color, skin color. Laser hair reduction has benefitted many with psuedofolliculitis barbae along with some topical prescribed medications. I don’t know how severe your problem is? Once the hair can no longer serve as an irritant, the skin will heal and the hyperpigmentation will gradually fade over months. If the skin is repeatedly traumatized, it will never get the chance to heal.
Dee
Dfayhey- I didn’t even look to see if there was a skin care section, I’ll check there now. I wish I had the money for electrolysis, I’ve been hearing that it’s better than laser in most cases but I’m not sure if it’s possible for me.
Pdeco- I told my practitioner and he kept saying that it would just heal itself over time. The spots aren’t big, and they aren’t super dark, they just look kind of gross because of where they are (under my belly button lol). I’m just scared they’ll never go away…
It sounds like you have some pigmentation from picking, similar to picking acne etc. It will likely go away on its own, but it can takes several months. I would make sure to not that area at all anymore and apply tea tree oil once a day to help the healing. I’ve picked out some pepperspots from my legs before, and the pigmentation went away within two months or so.