Glycolic Acid Peels & Hydroquinone Combined Can Effectively Treat Melasma in Darker Skinned Individuals

Photo Credit: Canderm Pharma

 

Since melasma is one of the most common and most difficult to treat pigmentation issues out there, there have been numerous trials and studies done to open the doors for several treatment options.  I posted a blog article about Triple Topical Therapy, which is the gold standard (according to dermatologists) at treating all levels and stages of melasma. For a quick refresher, triple topical therapy is a regimen that consists of:

- Hydroquinone
- Tretinoin
- Topical Corticosteroids

These 3 highly effective agents tend to work very well on most skin types and melasma cases. However, not everyone responds to just these 3 substances. 

People with more melanin in their skin are more prone to getting melasma. That is a known fact. There’s also a few studies out there that show that the use of glycolic acid peels 30% in strength or higher and hydroquinone can offer significant improvement dark skinned people with melasma.

Glycolic Acid peels in general enhance any skin care regimen since they exfoliate very well for all skin types (sensitive up to very resilient).  In the studies linked below, patients that used glycolic acid peels with their topical treatment (hydroquinone applied on melasma patches) saw a greater improvement in melasma fading.

The great thing is, glycolic acid peels are readily available and using a peel is now become a norm in a beauty regimen (so there’s lots of information on how to properly use a peel etc.). Makeupartistchoice is a top favorite of mine. Unfortunately leave-on glycolic acid products don’t cut it IMO.  Leave on creams rarely come in 30% or higher, or have incorrect pH formulations which only cause excessive irritation and lack of complete exfoliation.

Sources:

The combination of glycolic acid peels with a topical regimen in the treatment of melasma in dark-skinned patients: a comparative study.

Glycolic Acid Peels in The Treatment Of Melasma