I have recently been treating a fellow staff member for her melasma on the face. She has had it for approximately one year, and this summer it was worsened with several vacations and exposure to the sun. Although she was diligent with sunscreen and tried to stay out of the sun, her melasma worsened. Melasma is a dark skin discoloration that can happen on the face where the skin is exposed to sunlight. This condition can happen to men and women, and at any time in their adult life. It is worsened with sun exposure, and can be very difficult to treat.
I started off by having her start on Epiquin micro, a prescription cream to help lighten pigmentation. This is a product that is applied at night time, and can be used for as long as necessary. Once the summer months were over, I performed a Vitalize peel, to help even out her skin tone, and to help lift some of the pigmentation. She did very well with the peel, and had just a few days of peeling. Once her peeling had resolved, we did a BBL Photofacial; I would only do this on a melasma patient if they have been pre-treated with Epiquin micro, as the BBL can sometimes darken the pigment. She responded well to the first BBL, and stayed on her nightly regimen, as well as daily SPF, and we just recently did her second BBL, with more aggressive settings, in which she responded very well to.
After several months of treatments and product use, her skin has a fresh new glow, and her melasma has lightened significantly. It will never truly go away; however, it can be treated to a point where you would never know you ever had it. She will need to continue with her regimen at home, and will need to be very strict with her SPF, and avoid direct sun exposure as much as possible, but I know that she will be happy with the outcome of all the work we have done.
Written by: Cambria King, LE
