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Unprotected sun exposure for 10-15 minutes daily to help clear bacne -- will it prolong my bacne hyperpigmentation scars?

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(@acnegg)

Posted : 06/28/2017 1:07 am

The sun seems to have worked well at clearing up the acne on my face. Now I would like to try laying in the sun for just10-15 minutes dailyto clear up my currently active moderate to severe bacne. But I'm afraid that doing so will prolong the clearing up of my bacne scars (typically hyperpigmentation is exacerbated with sun exposure from all I've heard).

I use non-comedogenic sunscreen on my face daily to prevent the prolonging of my facial acne scars but I don't want to lather up the huge surface area of my entire back in sunscreen daily (bacne is everywhere)forjust10-15 minutes of sun exposure.

Can I get away with 10-15 minutes out in the sun without sunscreen on my back and not have my bacne scars hyperpigmentationprolonged?

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(@simplemutton)

Posted : 07/08/2017 7:44 am

Absolutely not!! Stay away from the sun if you have PIH. It's literally the worst thing ever because the PIH is caused by too much melanin around your past acne lesions. If you tan you'll only accumulate even more melanin in those spots so it will make them darker and stick in your back much longer. I did the same mistake because I thought that by getting a tan I would darken all my back and so it would unifies the color but instead the dark spots turned even darker and stayed there forever.

To make them go away faster you need to use bleaching lotions that will depigment your skin (ie prevent melanin from further accumulating and helpingbreak down the existing melanin), little by little you should lose the excess melanin in your dark spots and your skin tone will unify. So it's pretty much about doing the opposite than tanning. Of course you need to stay away from the sun while using bleaching agents.

Other things that help getting rid of them quickly are: IPL treatments, retin A, chemical peels, vitamin C serum, very light microneedling and of course a strong SPF to prevent any melanin from accumulating.

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(@skyesthelimit)

Posted : 07/20/2017 3:55 am

I think that's not a good idea. First of all, the sun's rays are harmful especially during 10am-4pm. I agree with SimpleMutton, use products which should lighten them up and using sunscreen especially when going out is one of your best protections. Of course, avoid sun exposure as much as you can too.

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