Treating Post Acne Brown Spots (Hyperpigmentation)

Today I’m going to tell you how to get rid of the brown spots that your acne sometimes leaves. Certainly when you get a pimple it has a huge impact on the way you look and that affects the way you feel about yourself but at least when you get pimples, they usually go away in a few days. But sometimes those pimples leave brown spots or dark spots and when they do those dark spots can last weeks or months and look even worse than the pimples did. You’ve heard me say before don’t pick pimples because picking causes dark spots, but some people have such sensitive skin that even without picking, just from the presence of the pimple, just from the inflammation of the pimple, they get dark spots. And the reason anybody gets a dark spot from a pimple is because anytime the skin has been injured it reacts by making more brown melanin pigment. So whether it’s from a sunburn that gives you a tan or whether it’s from pimples, picked or not picked, it’s very easy to get brown spots where you’ve had acne. Fortunately, those brown spots are easy to get rid of; it just takes three products and a little bit of patience. Believe it or not, the most important product is your sunscreen because sunscreen will prevent the sun from making those dark spots even darker. It’s really tough to bleach dark spots and make them lighter in the presence of the sun causing them to make more pigment. Second, you want a bleach, that’s sometimes called a “depigmenter”. Some of them have hydroquinone in the them and there are new modern bleaches that have peptides. But the point is, you put this on twice a day to stop the brown melanin cells from making more melanin, they’re hyperactive, they’re making too much, we want to slow them down. Third is a gentle chemical exfoliant, such as glycolic, which is my preference. The reason you need the exfoliant is to take off the dead cells that are holding too much brown pigment that’s already been formed. If you’re using a topical antioxidant every night make sure that antioxidant is a vitamin C based antioxidant because vitamin C also helps to reduce brown pigment. And last, but not least, whatever you do, make sure you don’t rub or pick at the brown spots. It will only make them worse.