Wednesday, November 16, 2011

1-month update

No real changes in my skin. I've kinda stopped doing the ginger since the hypopigmentation wasn't getting any better at all. I've been told by a dermatologist that even if my melanocytes did start repigmenting, there's a lot of scar tissue in my white patches and so maybe the skin wouldn't change color anyway. Bummer. I am thinking about trying to get Excimer laser done for the hypopigmentation. In the meantime, when I have ginger root in the fridge, I'll try to use it.


As far as the hyperpigmentation, I think the kojic acid stuff has been working somewhat, but it's also killer on my skin -- really irritating. I start peeling like I have a bad sunburn, and I get reddish and irritated. So I stop for a few days and start up again. I'm keeping up with it because I do think that when I stop the kojic acid for awhile and the irritation subsides, I see that my skin is generally more pale, especially where I had the hyperpigmentation on my forehead. I think this stuff works -- or will work, if I can ever get my skin used to it. I also notice that if I do go out in the sun, I get brown again though. I'm trying hard to stay out of the sun but since I do triathlons, it's been hard.

I was also told that I may have melasma from taking birth control pills (Yaz) and this might be the cause of the hyperpigmentation rather than IPL damage. I've stopped taking the Yaz and hopefully that will help.