[srm73]

Hello everyone. I just joined the site. I am a 36 year old male from Toronto canada with a south asian background. In start of 2008, i noticed some brown spots on both cheeks of my facial skin. Went to a skin specialist and was told its melasma. She gave a cream called "Lustra" which i used for about 6 months. It did lighten the spots alot but didnt remove them completely. Did some reasearch and found that laser treatment is an option. Went to a well known cosmetic clinic and was 1st told that its not melasma, instead its sun damage, also told that a treatment called "Med Light C6" will get rid of them in 4 to 6 treatments since the damage was minor. So i started the treatments and as i was told, the spots got alot darker, went through a terrebile time, avoided parties and outing alot. After 6 treatments when the skin was not cleared, i was told it might take up to 8 to 10 treatments. Cut the long story short, after 14 treatments, 1 year and spending $ 2800, the spots are still not completely cleared. I do admitt, it has cleared them to a certain extent but because of so many treatments, alot of disscoloration has also occured. Desperate for answars, consulted another clinic and was told about another treatment, dont remember the name of it but it was too expensive for me. So consulted another clinic and was told its Melasma and "Medlight c6" will get rid of them.

At this point honestly i dont even know who to believe and what to do. I can either keep getting more medlight treatment and keep spending money in hopes for the spots to be cleared one day, or try out some other treatment.

My question is if anyone has any experience with Medlight treatments and how did it work for them. Or any suggestion are most welcomed. Frankly, Iam tired of waiting for a clear skin and its been so long now and am getting desparate. Thanks in advance.

 

[srm73]

I guess no one has any suggestions for me. Anyways I mainly wanted to ask how laser treatments have worked for people. In my case it looks like "Medlight C6 Laser" is not working very good. Even 14 treatments havent cleared the minor damaged spots on the skin. Did anyone had any laser treatment and could share their experience with me please??

 

[Helen28]

Hi srm i have dark marking on all over my face for last 8 years, tried all sort of treatments even laser but no luck.my consultent said laser is not good for melasma. I am still waiting some one to give me some answers.good luck,sorry can't be any help.

 

[srm73]

Thank you Helen28 for the reply. 8 years is a long time. Did the laser guys had an answer for you as to why it didnt work? Well in my case, people at the clinic dont have a solid answer for me, all they say is that in some people, the skin takes more treatments than average. But at the same time, some people from the same clinic that treated me and other clinics told me that it should've been treated in alot less treatments. See right now Iam not even sure if i have melasma or something else. Skin specialist and one other clinic told me its melasma, but 2 other clinics told me that only women get melasma, so its just sun damage. Anyways tomorrow i have a consultation with another clinic. Lets see what they say. I hope theres light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[HappyEm]

Whatever type of hyperpigmentation it is, natural remedies are the answer. The problem is internal, therefore you need to treat it from the inside, in order to remove it totally.

 

[mony]

Would a skin lightnening cream help? I can't see how it could hurt to try and lighten these areas, topically? and you can make your own creams, if you look through the skin lightening threads on this site.

 

[EggoMini]

Hi SRM73! I hope you're still reading this thread..

I have both melasma and sun damage (lucky me!

) and I'm having good results so far with Fair and Flawless Soho Lightening Parfait(a gel containing SepiWhite), 35% Glycolic peels, Othine 3% hydroquinone cream & regular sunscreen spf 40 and spf 60 use.

I've been told here that I can speed my result with 4% hydroquinone and Retin-A use instead. I will try the regimen (posted in many places in the skin lightening section here) on my sun damaged body areas first in case of a negative reaction.

I've had the tanning damage for years but the melasma since having children. At first I went to makeup (i realize that isn't really an option for most men) and/or even more sun tanning to mask (haha) it all but when the tan faded I was back patchy and unhappy again. (enter foundations & concealers)

This summer I did more sunscreen and hats then in August started on the F & F parfait and sunscreens.. also weekly 35 % glycolic peels (I've gone up to 2 or 3x a week now depending on how my skin looks and feels). i was sick of being calico and blotchy..also tired of blending foundations.

From what I've learned this is the slow-road (but it is working!... Please see my thread and progress photos) but I'm chicken about my face. lol!

If the RA & HQ 4% method goes well on my arms, hands and feet then I'll try my neck... then maybe my face if any crud is left there by then. We'll see.

 

[stebbinsm]

Rodan and Fields has a REVERSE regimen that you might want to try before going to Lasers. I've seen people with symptoms like yours get great results. It's $160 for a 60 day regimen and comes with a money back gaurantee for 60 days if it doesn't work, I am actually a part time consultant for them so you can email me if you like.

 

[EbonyBeauty]

By skin specialist, do you mean derm? Anyways, I think you should go to a derm for a true diagnosis. Anyone can get Melasama, it is just certain people are more inclined to get it, like Latinos, women or darker skin types,etc

 

[isha]

i took laser treatments 2 times n it really worked as my skin was all cleared..i dont know y laser therapies did nt help on ur face...anyway laser is usefull n harmless ...also no need to wait for a long time for creams n their results..

 

[ColoradoLady]

Laser treatments are not always harmless! My melasma came back even worse after I had Fraxel laser treatments.

 

[caesarsalad]

Hi,,
I am 44 from Singapore. I have this pigmentation forming very quickly on my face for the past 1 month.. I just wish everyday that I could scrap it off with a knife!

My colleague has melasma (according to doctor)and condition is quite bad too.. all over her face and on her eye lids as well . She went for laser and it was cleared one moment but came back another moment... sigh...

I am looking for solution too.. and I read that a lot of vitamin C and sunscreen is preventive... but cannot rid these dark patches which are already there...

sigh... I wish I had put sunscreen in the past... did not bother to wear it .. and now regretting ... sigh...

 

[yjay]

caesarsalad.......its never too late to start using sunscreen, & it will help to prevent further damage

 

[Angel Hair]

hi srm sorry to hear about your problem hopefully we can come up with answers here on SCT. dont worry there are lots of things you can learn from other members experiences.

a lot of people swear by Grapefruit Seed extract in dealing with melasma, do a search in the threads and youll find lots of interesting posts.

 

[arzoo]

I have tried obagi with triluma it worked on my friend not on me
i am desperate any more views on laser and different types of laser treatments

 

[JanneS34]

I've increasingly had this problem as well, even though I'm relatively young and take good care of my skin (avoiding the sun, etc.) After a series of other nagging health related problems, I did a lot of research and for many reasons I won't go into, realized I had adrenal fatigue (which most doctors will insist doesn't exist except in extreme forms of Addison or Chron's. But, again, after research, I believe it does.) One of the many symptoms of adrenal fatigue is age spots (melasma.)

I started on an adrenal support tablet (Isocort adrenal support) not really expecting much to happen externally, but much to my surprise, within a week I noticed how much better my skin looked. Couldn't figure it out at first until I realized that a lot of my brown spots and freckles had faded or were gone. My skin tone was much more even.

While I'm not a doctor and can't tell anyone to run out and get this stuff, it's worth looking in to. Adrenal's are what helps us deal with stress (physical, emotional, pollution, toxins, etc.) and as we are a pretty stressed out society, it makes sense that are adrenals are over-worked. If you've tried everything else, I'd think this is at least worth a shot. It's a supplement that is relatively cheap compared to a lot of other creams and procedures.

 

[caesarsalad]

JanneS34,
What brand of this supplement can I try? How many tablets a day?

 

[evachau]

Actually you can try silk peel, I really work for hyperpimentation

 

[JanneS34]

if you google isocort adrenal support you should find them sold on many sites. The directions are on the bottle and you shouldn't take more than 8 in one day (2 four times daily- although you can take less.) They're very small pellets rather than pills.

 

[caesarsalad]

thanks friends..
i shall delegate this job to my hubby.. ask him to help me search the web and silk peel too...thanks!

merry christmas and a happy new year to all of you!