Have a dark neck? Lighten with these treatments!

Do you love wearing your hair up but feel ashamed of dark lines or spots on your neck? You are not alone. Nearly 20% of men and women suffer from this condition. Luckily, there are solutions. American dermatologist Dr Kiran Lohia, MD tell us how to get your neck’s complexion back.

What causes darkening?

Essentially, the condition is called Acanthosis Nigricans, and it is usually benign. Appearing as brown, velvety skin with prominent lines, this issue cannot be resolved by scrubbing or washing with water. It is an intrinsic condition that is genetic and/or hormonal. This problem is also more prevalent in people who have a higher likelihood of getting metabolic syndrome or diabetes, so if you have a dark neck, make sure you start eating healthy and exercising right. 

How to get rid of the darkening?

Lifestyle changes

If you are overweight, weight loss will definitely help improve your dark neck. Since Acanthosis Nigricans is worsened by your hormones and by diabetes, weight loss reduces it naturally! Also, eating low glycemic foods and exercising regularly will be very helpful too.

Medications

Certain medications such as glycolic acid, lactic acid or tretinoin can help get rid of that pigmentation. However, it can only work so much. They usually need to be combined with treatments to get really remarkable results. For daily use, look for a body lotion with urea such as Hydro-7 body lotion and apply it morning and evening to help work on that darkness without using a medication.

Peels

Chemical Peels can be very effective in getting rid of darkened skin. They are medical treatments that are designed to help you self-exfoliate older skin to reveal newer and fresher skin.  Done once every two weeks, there are hundreds of different types of peels, so make sure you go to an experienced dermatologist who can choose the right one for your skin so that you get results without risks. You will need at least 8-12 sittings of this, so you must be patient enough to wait for those results.

Microdermabrasion

Microdermabrasion is a physical medi-exfoliation of dull and dark skin that should be performed by a trained physician when you are looking for an improvement in your pigmented skin. There are two major types of microdermabrasion technologies. Earlier, aluminum oxide powder was used to exfoliate the skin. But, it was messy, had variable results and there were some reports of patients accidentally inhaling the powder. Now the newest method is using a diamond crystal hand piece which gives better results without any risk. 

Lasers

Lasers are the latest technology available to dermatologists and is being used regularly in treating Acanthosis Nigricans. They are focused light beams that have different targets based on which wavelength the light has been focused on. Lasers have been around since the 1960s without any issues and are perfectly safe when done by a certified laser trained dermatologist.