Ive been on Dans regimen for about 3 months and my acne is clearing but i still have ALOT of red marks left behind. I went to see a doctor about it and he said it was irritation under the skin. I was wondering is the BP is making it stay around and if i should use less.

Everyone is saying that the proactive bp lotion made their hyperpigmentation worse. On the contrary, it seemed to fade all of my hyperpigmentation. Granted, initially it made the spots a little redder, but within a matter of days it always seemed to fade them all away.

Hperpigmentation sucks. The assuring thing is that with time, the spots will fade. It's really hard to be patient, though.

I would recommend doing a microdermabraison treatment. It costs around 75 dollars and is amazing. It helps with wrinkles, scars, acne, and blemishes and much more. Also the best thing about it is the fact that any medication you use that day on your face does double the work.

I have hyperpigmentation around my lips and it's purty annoying.

I bought a green-bottle liquid thing with Kojic acid but it don't seem to help that much...

I recently started using Neutrogena Facial Lotion AHA with SPF.

And my doctor prescribed me "Triluma."

Should I buy the Triluma? I heard it's expensive... and does Triluma work? It has more than 1 active ingredient to get rid of hyperpigmentation?

I have hyperpigmentation around my lips and it's purty annoying.

I bought a green-bottle liquid thing with Kojic acid but it don't seem to help that much...

I recently started using Neutrogena Facial Lotion AHA with SPF.

And my doctor prescribed me "Triluma."

Should I buy the Triluma? I heard it's expensive... and does Triluma work? It has more than 1 active ingredient to get rid of hyperpigmentation?

I have a prescription for Triluma too. Yes, it is very expensive!!! Mine was 100.00 for a 30g tube. It was considered cosmetic for me, so it wasn't covered by ins. Maybe if yours isn't considered cosmetic it won't be so much? You're supposed to work up to a pea sized bit, and that's for your enitre face. I filled my first script about a year ago and the 1st tube lasted about 2.5 months or so. I can't remember how long I waited until I filled the script again, but I wasn't really seeing any difference in my discoloration so I stopped using it and went back in for a "nurse visit". I was told you're not supposed to use Triluma for more than a couple of months at a time then break for a month or so anyway. She told me to wait until Winter when I wouldn't be in the sun so much, then give it another try. Results take longer than the time I had used it, so that's probably why I didn't really notice a difference. The biggest thing I notice was how drying it was. You'll need to moisturize extra well. It can also sting and give you a bit of reddness depending on how sensitive your skin is to begin with.

I haven't refilled it again yet. But if I do I'll be sure to note my progress here!

Good luck!

Thx for the info. Yeah, I think Triluma will be my last resort for my hyperpigmentation.

I'm going to try AHA with Hydroquinone first. I heard that works real well.

Keep us updated.

Wow! I can't believe so many people are going through the same PIH problem as me. I am currently using Tri-Luma to get rid of my dark spots left by acne. It's definitely, but slowly working. However it was extremely expensive. It's a very slow process. I'll keep you guys updated, as I started using it two-three weeks now.


jan19th - it's a bit lighter, not so much. i used a little bit too much one night and i didn't know tri-luma was very concentrated so now it's a bit red. waiting for the redness to subside before using it again.

As tempting as it may be, I would wait until you are finished with your current treatment of Roaccutane. I would look for a well formulated moisturizer with a good amount of antioxidants and water binding agents. I had great luck with a green tea/caffeine serum which helps to reduce inflammation and redness and then used continuous rescue antioxidant moisturizer from Clinique over the green tea serum.

Green Tea/Caffeine Replenishing Cream
http://www.skindimensionsonline.com/store/...w-caffeine.aspx

I went to go see my dermatologist before he prescribed retin-a micro and doryx and when I told him I was using aloe vera on my skin he told me, "That does do anything". Retin-A has helped with hyperpigmentation though the IB is terrible. Also I guess using a triple antibiotic cream after popping one works for me. I am trying to lay off the popping though it's really hard since this IB is killing me!

How long does it normally take for these marks to fade?

Firstly, thank you frances - well laid out FAQ about PIH.
Another good read -
http://www.brownskin.net/hyperpigmentation.html

However I'm still not sure of the differences between Macules and PIH.
A couple months ago a large pimple didn't surface up properly, broke up inside the skin (I didn't feel it though) causing trauma and left a dark mark which is really slowly healing. (it looks like it will take a few more months).
Is this PIH or Macule ?

I'm currently doing light treatments which improve the mark quicker, but am wondering if I should approach it as PIH and see my doctor about perscribing 4% Hydroquinone.

Scar_face : Depends on the mark, I think we are usually talking in months.
Even if you're using treatments to speed it up, it will still take more than a month to completly heal.

What if you have brown scars? Will they disappear as well?

I still have the brown mark after 2 month, about a chunk of 20% of it has healed, it's a bit lighter but still dark enough not to look like a scar.
It becomes clearer to me what's this scar is about, I had acne which didn't surface up and that damaged the sorrounding skin tissue.
It's not like getting cut from a blade, or even getting burned - the damage is more severe and there are thousand of layers that need to regenerate.
my beauty therapist told me it takes around a year for the whole thing to heal, unfortunately there is no magic pill/cream that makes your skin heal faster, the scar is too deep.

If it was just hyperpigmentation, you basically use something that destroy the skin layers that are darkened, and then your body regenerate new and healthy skin layers.

I don't know how severe your scar is, but if you monitor it every week (take photos), you can compare the rate of improvement to give you an idea.

Thanks for this information

If you pick at a lesion and the scab comes off leaving a pinkish spot, what is the best way to make this spot heal to normal skin color and not brown? Is there anything I can put on it?

I have one smale spot on my cheek, and I pretty sure it was coursed by CP
since it came shortly after using it.
thanks for all the good info

I have this redish brown spot on my cheek from when I tried to pop a pimple. The pimple was deep so I could not get it and I think the trauma caused by the pressure I put on my skin caused the change in color. Since then (2 months ago) I have had a hard time looking at my face. It annoys me so much to see that the spot will not go away. I have repetedly tried to scratch the spot away and have made it scab a couple of times because I have gotten so angry. It usually scabs and then goes back to the same color or worse. I know it is not good to pick but I do not know what else to do. I tried proactive, I tried oxy pads, and also mederma.

Can someone help me out? Will my redish/brown mark go away? and what will speed up the process?

I've read before that vaseline (applied to the spot only) speeds up the healing process. I think it causes the skin cells to increase under it. Have you tried this? Maybe just massage it in on that spot only every night for a few nights. I use it for my 'healing' scabs and it works great.

yeah i too am looking for healing creams for deep marks from cystic acne.

so retin-a or hydroquinone the best option? are they OTC?

You know, I quit using BP and my skin is looking and feeling a little better for some reason.