Have melasma? An expert reveals easy home remedies to cure skin discoloration

Having an uneven skin tone can be really annoying and frustrating. It can make your skin look dull and patchy. It is quite common for people to associate it with hyper-pigmentation when it comes to skin discoloration. However, hyper-pigmentation is an umbrella term that is used to define certain skin conditions, including melasma. Yes, melasma is a skin disorder that is hard to cure and requires a lot of skin care. However, do you know daily care with certain home remedies can help to cure melasma?

Yes, you read that right!

Melasma is a pigmentation skin disorder that is characterised by gray-brown patches on the skin, making the skin tone uneven. This can occur on any part of your face including chin, nose, upper lip, forehead, or cheeks. It happens when melanocytes, the cells that produce melanin in your skin—become overactive and produce an excessive amount of pigment.

Apart from this, these are some risk factors of melasma:

* Melasma can happen for any number of reasons but the two biggest causes are sun exposure and hormones.

* Dark and dusky-skinned women are more likely to get melasma than fair or wheatish complexions.

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* Skin sensitivity to estrogen and progesterone has been associated with the majority of melasma cases.

* Since birth control pills, pregnancy, and menopause can disturb the levels of these hormones, they all become risk factors for this skin condition.

* UV rays are known to disturb the melanin levels in your skin, leading to more pigment being produced in certain areas of the skin.

* Other common causes of skin issues like stress and thyroid disease can also trigger melasma in women.

Melasma is complex but it’s not impossible to get rid of it. And as we already told you, there are some home remedies that can help you treat your melasma at home.

If you’re still in doubt, let us find out about it from Dr Nivedita Dadu, renowned dermatologist, founder and chairman of Dr. Nivedita Dadu’s Dermatology Clinic.

Here are 5 expert-backed home remedies to cure melasma:

1. Aloe vera gel

Aloe vera is known to relieve many inflammation issues in the skin. It is highly moisturizing, deeply hydrating, and gentle in nature. Aloe vera has been shown to relieve melasma in pregnant women as well. It works by rehydrating dry skin, penetrating deep into the skin’s layer to nourish it and protect it from the harmful effects of UV exposure.

2. Lemon juice

Lemon juice helps to treat melasma similar to that of apple cider vinegar. It helps to lighten the skin because it is a bleaching agent. The acidity from lemons can be harsh on the skin and cause irritation that may worsen the melasma. This treatment may be harsh on the skin and cause more harm than good.

3. Black tea

Black tea water can be used as a spot-lightening treatment. The astringent properties of tea soothe and calm inflammatory pigmentation and it is also very moisturizing in nature. Use a cotton ball to dab steeped black tea onto dark patches of melasma on your face. Do this twice a day for the best results.

4. Turmeric

Curcumin, the primary compound turmeric is made of, is a popular antioxidant and antimutagenic, and is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. It provides protection against UV rays and inhibits melanin production in the skin. Curcumin is also known to reduce hyper-pigmentation and when combined with other additives like gram flour and milk, becomes a nourishing scrub or mask for lovers of homemade DIY skin solutions to treat melasma.

5. Tomato

Tomato paste is helpful to treat melasma, caused by sun exposure. Lycopene, a primary compound found in tomatoes, is known to protect the skin from short-term and long-term photodamage caused by UV exposure. A mask made out of tomato paste and olive oil used twice a week can help fade melasma in a gentle way.

Follow these home remedies regularly to reap all these benefits and cure melasma!