How to Fix Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation—Without Making It Worse!

The best thing in the world is for everybody to prep. It's up to you, if you're okay, if you end up with a big dark blotch on your face because you didn't prep, well then, sometimes that's how you live and learn. One of the biggest things that I get phone calls on and emails about are customers, clients, people who may have done a peel, maybe a little bit too strong for them.

Didn't prep properly. Didn't prep properly. Instead of starting with TCA 13, one to two layers, they think, Oh, well, I had a peel done last year and it was this, and so I'm gonna go right for the 20.

Unfortunately, a lot of times, if you have that olive-y skin tone or darker ethnic skin tone, but let me just preface that, it can happen to anybody. It can happen. You could do nine peels and never have a problem with pigmentation, and then on that 10th peel, something happens.

Okay, so obviously there are many things that we can do to reduce that risk. So let's talk about what we can recommend for someone who's experiencing post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, either from blemishes or from over-aggressive peeling, or- Because PIH doesn't have to be from a peel. It could be from a pimple, and if you have someone with very light skin like me, I'm gonna have a pink mark.

Somebody who has an olive skin tone is gonna have a brown mark. And how do we get rid of those? Number one, what I tell people all the time, especially if you're acne-prone and things like that, if you wanna heal a pimple really quickly, you need to be using a retinoid. Retinoids speed up the turnover of your skin.

So if you have a mark, that mark, if you weren't using a retinoid, that could be there for three months or more, because time will help over time. It will go away, but if you help it by being on something like this, not only will this help to prevent acne in the first place, but the turnover is so quickly that usually that mark will be gone in about a week.

Wow, that's remarkable. About a week, yeah. So, make sure if you're not already using a retinoid, start using one.

And then on a daily basis, use Fade Bright. If you can't use Fade Bright, or for whatever reason, hydroquinone is another one, another alpha-arbutin. Alpha-arbutin and hydroquinone are the two very best things you can use for pigmentation issues.

So we're talking about post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. So you did something, now you're left with a mark, so we wanna use this. Your skin kind of got inflamed, traumatized, and then once your skin swells like that, a little bit.

Yeah, the melanin's there. Sometimes your melanin, the melanin in your skin, will kind of purge to protect the skin, and then that's when you have these dark marks. And if you did a peel, let's say you did a TCA 20 peel, and you're a Fitzpatrick 4 or something, and you made a boo-boo, and you didn't prep for five, four to five weeks with the proper regimen, and you just did it, well then you're gonna end up with that.

You could have one area, you could have a couple of spots, you could have a big area, it could be everywhere. And it's going to take a little while to fix, but what you do, use a melanin inhibitor like Fade Bright, or like I said, hydroquinone every single day. Use a retinoid every single day.

Now there is a retinoid in here, but I would still recommend a stronger retinoid coupled with this. And of course, you have to use SPF, because any sun that hits your face is going to make any hyperpigmentation you have worse. Doesn't matter what caused it; it's gonna get worse.

So that, and I would recommend shading your face with a hat or something. I know it sounds crazy, but if it's important to you, you're gonna do it. Yeah, and reapply often if you are out in direct sunlight.

Yeah, and you know, so I'm gonna talk about a couple of new things that we have that are also good for balancing pigmentation in the skin. I don't want to say it's a cure-all. Sure.

Because it's not a melanin inhibitor. Right. But both of these, EXO-PDRN, and then the EXO-AD, which is the human adipose exosomes, both of these, probably because it's like a, you know, the way the product is, the intensity with which it fixes your skin.

Right. It can also help to balance pigmentation issues. And that's hyper, and potentially hypo as well.

And we never had really anything to recommend for hypo, which is that when your melanin is no longer produced. Right, those melanocytes are damaged, and then the pigment is gone. And once it's gone, it's gone.

Adding something like one or both of these into the regimen to try to fix this is a super idea. And a lot of times, I mention post-inflammatory erythema, PIE, as well. These can also be super beneficial for that because they're so healing.

We have another thing that we usually say. So like, let's say you did a peel, and for whatever reason, yanked a piece off, and now you get that really pink skin. And obviously it's pink because you've taken off layers, you're closer to the blood, sores.

It's pinker because there aren't all those layers of dead skin on top. But that could take many, many months for that to balance out. So, using something like the PDRN or the EXO-AD can help balance those colors.

Another thing that you can do, and this is like the official treatment, is to use 1% hydrocortisone, not hydroquinone, hydrocortisone. And apply that- From a drug store, correct? Yep, from any drug store, one time per day for one to two weeks. You don't want to go past two weeks.

Stop at that point. And if there's still a little bit more, wait another week or so, and then do it again because that tends to lighten the skin. You want to be really careful.

You don't want to make it a completely different color. But that is the official thing to do if you happen to have the other issue, the other mark. Yes, so the biggest thing I hear from customers when this does happen to them, they want it corrected, and they want it corrected now, immediately.

So their first thought is, I need to do another peel. And it's a little scary because that's sometimes, not always, what brought us to this point. So you certainly don't want to recommend them to do another peel.

Do the same one they just did, no. Exactly. So they must dial that back.

And if they are looking to do something, maybe something more like a lactic peel once a week. Lactic or Mandelic, I think, are the two safest. And go in conjunction with the Fade Bright, the Retinoids, and these super smart ingredients in the new Alqemi line are amazing.

I think that's a good idea. And I want to stress too, if you just, let's say you did a TCA peel, and you've got to wait four to who knows how many weeks, I don't know how many layers you did, right? Let's say you have to wait 30 days. So you're not going to be doing any of these peels prior to 30 days.

You always have to wait for your entire cycle. Okay, yeah, now I'm at this, I've been treating it for the past three weeks, but I still have that problem. Then can I do a peel? Then yeah, if it's a super mild one.

Like the Lactic 50, though, you know, the most advantageous thing you can do is use your Fade Bright or Hydroquinone daily. Now, do you recommend that they apply the Fade Bright to the dark area only at first? You know, it's like, you know, if they have, let's say, somebody did a peel and they have a mark on their face, okay. I've actually been counseling somebody through email, a very similar, darker-skinned individual, who used something too strong, did not pre-treat.

Same scenario that we just described. Above his beard, he has a line, and it's obvious, it's there. I feel bad, but it's like, I don't, there's nothing we can tell him immediately to correct this.

No, but at least with the skin discoloration, I know, like, you know, being that he's a guy, he might not want to wear makeup or something like that, but you can go get like a little cover stick, you know, from the drug store. Even have somebody at the drug store help you match a color that's close to your skin. A couple of little dabs of that to help temporarily cover it up or lighten it a little bit.

Is it good for them, though, to apply the Fade Bright just to that dark area for a week or two? Right, yes, I would. I would use it to, if you've got like a big dark spot or a couple of little spots, it doesn't do you any good to use it to your whole face right now if you're trying to fix this.

Now, if it were all over, then I would say, yeah, apply it everywhere. And that's how you should prep, right? You should be using this everywhere that the peel is going to touch. Everybody should.

If you have Fitzpatrick four through six, you must prep for four weeks with something like Fade Bright or Hydroquinone. If you are a Fitzpatrick one, two, or three, you're lighter. Yes, you have a far lower chance of getting inflammation and hyperpigmentation, but can you? Absolutely, yes.

So the best thing in the world is for everybody to prep. Absolutely. It's up to you.

If you're okay, if you end up with a big dark blotch on your face because you didn't prep, well then, sometimes that's how you live and learn. Yeah, definitely low and slow when you're dealing with PIH as far as acids go. Mandelic or Lactic are the only two.

And if it's been months, okay, if it's been a few months, I would reach for a Jesner as well, but I would do it very sparingly, like one layer, maybe two layers. I wouldn't be super aggressive.

And I'm only saying that because that is really good. That has the Resorcinol, which is very much like Hydroquinone in it. And it has Lactic in it.

So both of those ingredients are super helpful for pigmentation, but I wouldn't run to that immediately after I did that peel and got the marks. I would be focusing on, you know, your inhibitors and your retinoids and your SPF, and give that a chance to work, and take a picture too. You know, there's, yeah, the mark may be there, but it could be a third of the color that it was before.

And you're not going to know that unless you're comparing a picture. So if something happens, take a picture and then take another photo in 30 days. And I bet you it's going back, but it's not fast.

It is a slower process. If you're dealing with something after the fact, it's always harder to fix than it is to prevent. Yes.

And if you have any other questions, yes, please reach out to us either via email at support@platinumskincare.com. You can always send a photo. We can make, you know, it helps us make better recommendations for you, or call us. Yes.

1-800-917-3155. Yep. We're here to help.

Yes, absolutely. We're happy to do so.