What medications cause hyperpigmentation? The silent cause of hyperpigmentation may be something you may not have thought of.
Have you tried all sorts of lightening products, even had invasive treatments such as laser procedures, and/or acid peels, and microdermabrasion?
Did it lighten up some but then the hyperpigmentation slowly returned over the course of years?
Sometimes the hyperpigmentation can be even more stubborn and tough to remove.
For some of you, the silent cause of hyperpigmentation could be related to the medications you have been taking or used to take.
I did a recent online consultation with a 63 year old woman who had been fighting hyperpigmentation .
Over the course of 15 years, her hyperpigmentation turned into full blown melasma.
After asking many, many questions, I thought it may be the medication that she had been taking for a long period of time.
She avoided the sun most of her life, she kept her skin care regimen simple , the only long term habit I saw the possibly could have a part of that was her medications.
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What Medications Cause Hyperpigmentation?
According to several articles (links to sources will be at the bottom of the page), 10-20% of all cases are linked to drug induced hyperpigmentation, especially as we get older.
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This can be caused by several factors of:
-the drug itself triggering hyperpigmentation
-combination of drugs and sun exposure
If you are taking medication AND your hyperpigmentation is irresponsive, here are is a list of drugs that can be contributing to the hyperpigmentation:
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Medications that can Cause Hyperpigmentation :
Antibiotics such as
-tetracycline
-erthyromycin
-doxycycline
-ciproflaxin
-Non Steroidal anti inflammatory drugs
-antimalarials
-Amiodarone (regulates heart beats)
-cytotoxic drygs (chemotherapy drugs)
-psychotropic drugs- a wide range from sleep aids such as Ambien to anti dpressants to anti anxiety medictions
-Heavy Metals-exposed via: working in a factory
-exposure to old lead paint dust
-fish-high in mercury
-some herbal medicines
Hyperpigmentation Treatments:
The difficulty in treating this kind of hyperpigmentation is that you could have been taking these medications for years before it started to show up so you don’t really know.
If you have been taking these medications and your hyperpigmentation doesn’t seem to be responding to any type of treatment, ask your doctor if you can use alternative medications, or depending on the medication, ask your doctor if even weaning off the medication is even an option.
Here is a link to some of the medications that you may want to ask your doctor about to see if they could be contributing to the hyperpigmentation or causing your skin to be photosensitive.
If you think all you have to do is wear sunscreen for hyperpigmentation and for anti aging, then you may want to check out this video:
3 Truths of Melasma-CAN YOU CURE MELASMA?
Anti Aging Tip: Sunscreen -What the Beauty Industry is NOT telling you
These people do NOT wear Sunscreen and they don’t burn!
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Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK542253/
https://dermnetnz.org/topics/drug-induced-hyperpigmentation/
