Ask Dr. Schultz
How to control melasma?
What products would you recommend for Melasma? HQ, bleaching creams, and peels have made the condition worse. I am using a glycolic cleanser and vitamin C serum which is helping.
Usually, I recommend treating Melasma with a combination of glycolic alternating with salicylic physician strength superficial peels, Hydroquinone 4%, retinoids like tretinoin and various other bleaching ingredients like kojic acid, phytic acid, and even topical Vitamin C.
It’s very tricky as Melasma represents a condition in which your pigment cells (melanocytes) are hyper-reactive to any injury, including over treatment with the ingredients I mentioned (they need to be titrated very carefully) as well as ultraviolet light, so no matter what you do to reduce your melasma, unless you use strong sun protection every minute of daylight (not just sunlight), you won’t see meaningful, sustained improvement.
The best sunscreen here are “chem-free” Zinc or Titanium based sunscreens.