How to get rid of pigmentation around lips?

There could be many reasons for getting hyperpigmented lips like –

• Poor Lifestyle Habits: – Like Smoking, Tobacco/pan Chewing, Lip Smacking & Biting.
• Physiological:  Aging -Freckling
• Inflammatory Skin Diseases eg. seborrheic dermatitis, and contact dermatitis or SLE.
• Gerodermatoses – PT Syndrome, Albright Syndrome & Familial intestinal polyposis
• Endocrinological conditions – Addison’s Disease
• Drug-Induced – Antimalarial Therapy
• Malignancies (Melanoma)/Chronic Disease
• Lip Pigmentation & Cracking – reasons could be genetic.

Very important and cannot be ignored is the genetic tendency. If you are genetically prone to dark pigmented lips, then you cannot help it.

 With modern treatments, pigmented lips can be treated to a great extent.

• The first logical step is to the Treatment of underlying health conditions or diseases
• Then, you need to make a big effort in Changing lifestyles – Stop smoking/tobacco/Lip Biting
• Make sure to Apply Sunblock and Sunscreen and Lip Balms on the lips on an everyday basis before you go out and reapply every few hours. Basically, don’t allow your lips to get dry.
• Moisturize using Lip Balms, Honey, Ghee, Coconut oil to ensure your lips get the necessary nourishment.
• Use anti pigmentation creams containing Retinol/ Kojic Acid/ hydroquinone. But these creams should be used only after consulting with a dermatologist as self-medication is harmful and can lead to adverse side-effects. The correct dosage and duration to use these creams should be determined only by your dermatologist.
• Apart from that, you can also consult your dermatologist and take Cosmetic Treatments such as Chemical Peels which exfoliate the layers of the skin and encourage new collagen production, which helps to reduce pigmentation.

In case of deep level pigmentation, your dermatologist could also recommend the Fractional Q switched Laser (1064 nm) to you. Before taking any treatment, you need to get your pigmentation level assessed by a doctor. He or she will be able to tell you how superficial or deep your pigmentation is and give a suitable treatment.

Pigmentation is often a situation which needs to treated with medical treatments because it affects the way our skin’s melanin is produced. It needs to be internally corrected with medically proven treatment solutions.

You can take care of yourself by avoiding sun exposure and making lifestyle changes but the deeper your pigmentation is, the more medical treatments you might need.