Welcome to Ask a Derm, a collection from SELF by which board-certified dermatologists reply your urgent questions on pores and skin, hair, and nail well being. For this installment, we tapped Susan C. Taylor, MD, the Bernett L. Johnson Jr. Endowed Professor of Dermatology and the vice chair for variety, fairness, and inclusion for the division of dermatology on the College of Pennsylvania’s Perelman Faculty of Medication. Her specialties embody hair loss, beauty dermatology, hyperpigmentation, and pores and skin of shade.
One of many golden guidelines of skincare: Never pop your pimples. After all, it’s powerful recommendation to observe if that offended bump is simply sitting there, taunting you—and even tougher whenever you do go away it alone and nonetheless find yourself with a hard-to-ignore darkish spot.
In case you didn’t know, picking your acne causes trauma to your pores and skin, which may result in scarring and hyperpigmentation. That’s why just about each derm on the market will beg you to maintain your fingers (and extraction instruments) off your face. When you’re something like me, although, from expertise that leaving your pimples alone isn’t a foolproof resolution: Even after I summon the willpower to let a zit run its course, I’m typically nonetheless left with a flat crimson or brown mark as an alternative. To determine why this occurs, I referred to as within the assist of a professional.
Principally, the buildup—of extra oil, useless pores and skin cells, and typically micro organism—that causes pimples can set off an inflammatory response, Susan C. Taylor, MD, professor of dermatology on the College of Pennsylvania’s Perelman Faculty of Medication, tells SELF. Throughout this course of, your physique releases pigment-producing melanocytes (the cells chargeable for your pores and skin’s shade) to guard the affected space, Dr. Taylor says.
Because of this superior immune response, you might discover smaller, surface-level blemishes like whiteheads and blackheads resolve on their very own—with out leaving a mark. However let’s say you’re coping with extra extreme irritation (from angrier, deeper cystic acne that has lingered for months, or perhaps a nasty bug bite). In that case, your physique may overreact and pump out plenty of (and typically an excessive amount of) protecting melanin. “This could trigger post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation,” Dr. Taylor explains—a.ok.a. brownish or blue-gray spots that stay even after the blemish has healed.
Not everyone seems to be doomed to get PIH. Some folks have the next probability of growing the situation, together with people with darker pores and skin tones (like these of African or Asian descent), Dr. Taylor says. In comparison with folks with fairer pores and skin, these teams have extra melanin to start with (that’s why their complexion is darker)—“so that they’re additionally extra more likely to overproduce melanin in response to irritation,” she says.
Solar publicity, too, could cause your physique to launch additional melanin in an effort to guard your pores and skin in opposition to UV damage. This could make your current blemish much more pigmented and in addition improve your threat of growing PIH after it heals.
Now, you may be considering: If I’m going to get a darkish spot anyway, why not pop this sucker and simply get it over with? Right here’s an excellent motive to withstand that urge: “You might make your mark even darker, bigger, wider, and total worse,” Dr. Taylor warns. Plus, squeezing the world along with your fingers can probably create an open wound and up your possibilities of getting an infection.
As cussed (and apparent) as post-pimple darkish spots might be, the excellent news is that they usually do go away, or a minimum of loosen up. It simply takes time (a number of months is the norm, per Dr. Taylor)—however there a number of OTC treatments that may assist them fade quicker. Most notably, it is best to search for skincare merchandise with brightening elements like vitamin C, licorice, and tranexamic acid. And in case you’re at the moment caught with an offended zit that will go away a long-lasting impression, Dr. Taylor recommends making use of a cool compress to the spot. This can assist velocity up the therapeutic course of by decreasing irritation, which in flip lowers the potential of melanin overmanufacturing.
Sadly there isn’t a lot else you are able to do to utterly stop hyperpigmentation. However in response to Dr. Taylor, the closest factor to a “resolution” is sun protection. Being diligent about making use of SPF each single day, she says, is your greatest wager for conserving new spots from forming—and fading any you have already got.
Associated:
- Can My Dry Lips Actually Become ‘Addicted’ to Lip Balm?
- Just 12 People Proudly Sharing Unfiltered, Makeup-Free Pics of Their Acne
- How to Deal When You’re Having a Bad Skin Day
Get more of SELF’s science-backed skin care tips delivered right to your inbox—for free.
