Well this actually started about 8 months ago. I smeared a balm on my forehead during a severe headache and then completely forgot about it. The next day, I had a small dark gray spot on the right corner of my forehead. Assuming it was dry, dead skin, I lightly massaged my usual facial scrub all over my face thinking that the exfoliation would remove the dry skin and the mark would heal.
But this did not happen. On the contrary, a few days later, the small spot transformed into a thick dark gray spot that ran continuously from one end of my forehead to the other. I was absolutely stunned when I looked at myself in the mirror, in the morning, and also everyone around me. Family and friends asked all kinds of questions about it and I had no answer.
I didn’t realize at the time that the mark was due to the balm I had used. Instead, I thought it was a reaction to the antibiotics I had taken at the time for a wisdom tooth pain. But, a visit to a dermatologist explained that the mark spread on that part of the forehead where the balm had been applied and this skin disorder was called hyperpigmentation. I had heard of it many times from people around, but now I was going through skin pigmentation myself. It is a condition in which the skin produces too much pigment. melanin (melanin is responsible for the color of your skin) and this makes the skin darker than usual.
They told me that if I did not take the proper medication and did not take instant action, the mark could reach the lower layer of the skin and even the bone under the skin. And once it got to the bone, no topical remedy or any other treatment could erase it in my entire life (God forbid!). The last words really caught my eye and scared me. My skin was sensitive and the balm used, as the doctor said, could have been a duplicate / fake, causing this strange reaction.
They gave me names of medications (vitamin and calcium tablets) to consume for 1 month and a half and a kojic cream to apply daily on pigmented skin. Applying sunscreen twice a day was a must even indoors as my skin had become photosynthetic (the rays from the bulb could also cause more damage and delay the healing process). Full sun protection (from both UVB and UVA rays) had become crucial, as “overexposure to the sun’s rays causes the skin to produce more melanin, which makes the complexion darker even more.” A gentle face lift was recommended as part of the ongoing treatment.
As a last resort, I was given the options of Yellow skin gold treatment Laser therapy (which was quite an expensive affair). Yellow Peel is a facial skin depigmenting treatment that would remove the damaged upper layer of my skin by applying a mixture of depigmenting agents. Then the bottom layer of skin would be revealed and I would look good again. This would take a few weeks or months, depending on the case (in my case they told me 4 weeks). Both treatments, the doctor assured, would cure my skin condition 100 percent.
The doctor called me every 4 weeks because, as she had explained to me, “The skin has two layers; the top layer (the epidermis) and the bottom layer (the dermis). The layer emerges at the top, replacing the epidermis. This cycle it takes about 28 days. ” Therefore, the visit every 4 weeks was crucial to monitor the exact stage of recovery. I kept delaying the Yellow Peel treatment every time I met her because I was afraid she might have side effects. So instead they switched creams and prescribed another fairness cream to use alongside kojic cream next month. I followed his instructions to T.
As I walked down the street, I realized that people were looking at me strangely and compassionately. I suppose they must be thinking: “Poor girl, she is very young and suffers from a serious skin disease.” I wish I could explain what had really happened to me. Some friends and supporters advised me to apply things like raw milk and aloe vera gel to the pigmented area, which I did quickly with very little progress.
So, I thought about surfing the net in my spare time and searching natural remedies for pigmentation It could also be followed by following the treatment of the doctors. I gave him, ‘Natural Remedies for Skin Pigmentation’ and the search engines racked up a list of sites that mentioned information on why pigmentation occurs and also how the damage could be resolved naturally using fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
I got remedies like cucumber juice, lime juice, papaya pulp, tomato juice, chickpea flour and water paste, coriander paste, mint paste, neem paste, fuller’s earth paste, sandalwood paste, curd fresh, the list was endless. All of this had to be left on the pigmented patch for about 10-15 minutes before washing it off with water. I followed them, mostly trying any remedy day after day. I even soaked orange peels in water and splashed them every day.
Since none of the home remedies would cause side effects, it would comfortably spread fruit juices, etc. all over my face and not restrict it to just the pigmented patch. Little by little it became fun because as I tried all of these one by one I realized that the quality of my skin had really improved. Regardless of the dark, pigmented patch, my skin had now become smooth, supple, glowing, and lighter. My cheeks had flushed pink. It wasn’t heavy on my pockets either, since those fruits and vegetables are always present in our kitchen. For example, I always kept a small piece of papaya or a tomato slice away to mash and apply to my skin once I was done with the housework. In fact, a friend once asked me if the reason for the glow on my face was because I was enjoying love and that felt really good.
The last cream I was prescribed was Triglow and the skin doctor said it was the most effective cream in the world for curing pigmentation. It was really useful. I noticed a drastic lightening in the pigmentation after using it for a few days. But the point was, I wanted him to heal completely, so that I was back to being my normal self, which would take a little longer. The repeated trips to the doctor were getting on my nerves now and I decided to stop visiting her and continue with her latest prescription and natural remedies until the pigmentation healed.
A small hazy patch still remains on my forehead, but it is diminishing at a fairly slow rate. One thing I realized while going through all this heartache is that there is nothing better than our ancient natural remedies for our problems. Of course, serious illnesses require immediate and long-term medication, under the supervision of doctors. That’s how I started too. But if we take a deeper interest in these natural and herbal cures, we can live a better, healthier, and more fruitful life. The only problem is time; We all have little time and do not have the patience to wait for our problems to be solved in this way, at a slow pace.