Melasma

Overview

Patches of dark skin that appear on areas of the face exposed to the sun, melasma is a very common skin disorder. It is, however, more common in young women with a darker skin tone, but it can affect anyone.

Often associated with the female hormones estrogen and progesterone, the condition is common in pregnant women, women taking birth control pills, and women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

Being in the sun makes melisma more likely to develop and the problem is more common in tropical climates.

Symptoms

The only symptom of melasma is change in skin color. However, this can cause distress about how you look.

The skin color changes are most often an even brown color and they usually appear on the cheeks, forehead, nose, or upper lip. Dark patches are usually symmetrical (matching on both sides of the face).

Causes

The exact cause of melasma remains unknown, but experts believe that the dark patches could be triggered by several factors, including pregnancy, birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy (HRT and progesterone), family history of melasma, race, antiseizure medications, and other medications that make the skin more prone to pigmentation after exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light.

Uncontrolled sunlight exposure is considered the leading cause of melasma, especially in individuals with a genetic predisposition to this condition. Clinical studies have shown that individuals typically develop melasma in the summer months, when the sun is most intense. In the winter, the hyperpigmentation in melasma tends to be less visible or lighter.

Melasma during pregnancy is called chloasma, or “the mask of pregnancy” and pregnant women experience increased estrogen, progesterone, and melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) levels during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. It is thought that pregnancy-related melasma is caused by the presence of increased levels of progesterone and not due to estrogen and MSH. Studies have shown that postmenopausal women who receive progesterone hormone replacement therapy are more likely to develop melasma. Postmenopausal women receiving estrogen alone seem less likely to develop melasma.

Do

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Diet

Avoiding the following food items helps in prevention and healing of melasma

Tamarind
Spicy, salty foods and drinks
Garlic and green chillies
Brinjal
Curd (Yoghurt)
Buffalo milk products
Alcohol and alcoholic products
Sugarcane
Eggs
Fish
Chicken

It is important to not add further toxicity to your system so try to adhere to the following:

Fruits like oranges, apples and grape fruit and vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and brussel sprouts should be taken. These contain calcium D- glucarate which prevents beta- glucuronidase, a bad enzyme formation in the gut. This bad enzyme helps in re-absorption of estrogen. Fiber included foods should also be taken to prevent the formation of excess estrogen.

Do not consume any artificial sweeteners, such as Splenda, NutraSweet or Aspartame
Do not consume high fructose corn syrup or mono-sodium glutamate.
Do not drink any carbonated beverages.
Avoid all fast food restaurants.
Avoid all canned food.
Eliminate conventional dairy products. The best dairy products are raw, unpasteurised and homogenised dairy from grass fed cows. If this is unavailable, then buy organic dairy.
Avoid conventional beef. The best beef is organic grass fed beef. The second best is organic meat; this includes beef, veal, lamb, chicken and turkey. Check out www.grasslandbeef.com.

Supplements:

There are a number of important supplements that should be consumed to correct the hormone imbalances, which is the main cause of melasma. These include MSM, Vitamin C, CoQ10, Zinc, Probiotics and Calcium. Zinc and Vitamin C have a special function of lowering copper levels while MSM increases the permeability of cells allowing the copper to easily excrete out of the body. Similarly CoQ10 assists in more rapid cell turnover.

Take Vitamin D3 50,000-100,000 International Units a day for periods of 4 weeks at a time.
Wholefood supplements are the best way of ensuring your nutritional needs are met. The best we know on the market is Kevin Trudeau’s “KT Daily” product. You can find more details here.
Take an Omega 3 supplement:

Prescription and non-prescription medication:

What non-prescription and prescription drugs are you taking? Your non-prescription and prescription are partially the reason that you have this illness or disease – you need to get off these medications but do so only under the guidance of a licensed health care practitioner.

Mind

We know that when the body is out of balance, energy doesn’t flow, leading blockages and eventually disease. Here are some things you can do to combat stress and restore balance:

Go to a Dr Morter BEST (Bio-Energetic Synchronisation Technique) Practitioner.
Sign up for Energetic Re-Balancing: 2 practitioners to consider are:

Stephen Lewis, founder of the Aim Program. Find out more by clicking here.

. Find out more by clicking here.

Consider using Mary Millers Iching System Products – ichingsystemsinstruments.com
Reiki healing is very powerful in releasing stress and emotional baggage. Find a practitioner here.
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) has had remarkable results in dissolving stress. Find a local practitioner here or go to www.thetappingsolution.com or www.tftrx.com
Try Hypnotherapy to relax the mind. Find a practitioner here.