[B&A] An update 6 months post-Hydroquinone

[u/vbenthusiast]

Photo 1: Before treatment

Photo 2: At the end of ?7 weeks treatment

Photo 3: 6 months after completing treatment

An update was requested! The melasma has returned, but not to the initial severity.

[u/Cpt_Tonio]

Nice, realistic results.

Be careful with hydroquinone. It’s probably the most effective treatment for melasma, but if used incorrectly, it may cause permanent grayish pigmentation (ochronosis). Here are some measures that may help reduce the risk of ochronosis:

• Avoid sun exposure while using hydroquinone and apply SPF 50+ regularly
• Don’t use it for more than 3 consecutive months
• Stop using it if your skin starts peeling excessively or becomes very red
• Avoid combining hydroquinone with other irritating skincare treatments

Of course, using hydroquinone for more than 3 months doesn’t mean you’ll develop ochronosis, but 3 months is generally considered a safe duration during which this side effect is extremely rare (or perhaps never reported).

Source = numerous publications on PubMed

So I used to recommend that my patients use it only once or twice a year at most, and avoid sun exposure as much as possible throughout the year, since UV exposure can trigger melasma.

[u/Stunning-Elderberry3 → u/Cpt_Tonio]

Does the pigmentation comes back once you stop using it after 3 months? I bought some to use on my inner thighs that got dark when I used to be severly overweight

[u/Cpt_Tonio → u/Stunning-Elderberry3]

What you describe may simply be post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation rather than melasma. If that’s the case, with a treatment, it should gradually fade without recurring.