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Last Updated: Mar 28, 2023
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Underarms lighting

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Dr. Rajiv GoyalDermatologist • 27 Years Exp.MD - Dermatology, MBBS
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In the body there are many body parts which are dark or have dark light patches. When we have dark skin color we don't like to wear sleeveless clothes or swimming suits. This becomes odd for people, they feel uncomfortable in themselves.

There are many cause of dark underarm:

  1. Deodorants and antiperspirants have chemicals that sensate the body when used and are the cause of darkening the skin by reacting with skin. 
  2.  Shaving the underarm can cause abrasion which leads to darkening of skin.
  3. Dead skin cells accumulate due to exfoliation and may darken the skin.
  4. Stretching or friction caused by tight clothes can darken the underarm.
  5. Many people have hyperpigmentation due to an increase in melanin.
  6. Dark patches called melasma can occur.
  7. Sometimes people with abnormal hormone levels and diabetes can have a disorder called acanthosis nigricans. It is a skin pigmentation disorder. 
  8. Fox fordyce diseases cause the skin to darken.
  9. A skin infection caused by bacteria called erythrasma can cause the underarm to darken.
  10. When adrenal glands get damaged it causes Addison diseases which in turn darken the skin.
  11. Smoking kills but it also causes skin for hyperpigmentation.

Here are the few steps which lighter the underarms are:

  1. Change your deodorant. And use baking soda or apple cider vinegar this will lighten your underarm.
  2. Shaving darken the skin so do waxing or laser to remove the hair.
  3. Use body scrub and scrub it many times a week.
  4. Loose clothes should be worn.
  5. We should quit smoking.

Natural remedies:

Potato - peel the potato and cut  the potato into thin slices from the squeeze of the juice. Now apply this to your underarms for 10 minutes. Do 3 in a week to see the effect of it. 

Milk, rose water, and orange peel- take 2 tablespoons of milk, 2 tablespoons of rose water and orange peel in powder . Take all and mix it well to make a thick paste of it. Now use this to scrub your underarms with paste for 15 minutes and then wash it with wash . Do this 3 times in a week to see the change in darkened underarms. .

Lemon - with a knife cut thin slices of lemon and with these slices scrub your underarms for 10 minutes. Now wash them and moisturize them with oil or something.

Turmeric and lemon -make a paste with turmeric and a few drops of lemon juices enough till you make it paste. Now apply this to your underarms  for 30 minutes and wash the paste with water nicely. 

Egg yolk oil - in the market there is egg yolk oil, take that and massage your underarm before going to bed. Next morning wash it with soap so that its smell goes away.

Coconut oil- by taking coconut oil massage your underarms. After a few minutes, wash it with soap or do this before taking a bath. Do this many times a week. It will make the skin Healthy.

Tea tree oil- take a few drops of tea tree oil in a spraying bottle and have this spray after your bath. This will dry naturally till then you wait.

Treatment 

Underarms are especially caused by skin conditions problems. There are treatments apart from natural ways. Doctors prescribe many treatment like:

There are cream or lotions which contains chemical or compound like 

  • hydroquinone
  • tretinoin (retinoic acid)
  • corticosteroids
  • azelaic acid
  • kojic acid

This will discolor your darkened underarms.

  1. There chemical peels in the market with compounds like alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) and beta hydroxy acids (BHAs) to rejuvenate the skin from darker to lighter.
  2. Abrasions like derma or microderm can help skin to cleanse and get rid of dark.
  3. laser therapy to remove pigment which is darkening the underarms.

There is a skin condition called erythrasma for which doctors provide many prescription: An antibiotic, like erythromycin and antibiotics which is applied orally like penicillin.

Precautions:

For natural remedies

When you apply any natural or medicinal products there is a possibility of skin irritation depending on the sensitivity of the skin of that person. To avoid such irritation or side effects apply a small patch to your underarms and analyze the reaction for 2 days and then continue the applying of products.

For medicinal

Medicinal or skin care products have powerful compounds and acid Powerful acids which will irritate the skin. Depending on the sensitivity of skin these products can cause redness and sun sensitivity. Some products sometimes can make the skin much darker.

Dermatological procedures can cause many reactions such as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) which include some side effects like redness, pain, skin can get dry, skin patches in darker and lighter color.

Conclusion:

There are many social problems for underarm darkening. It may not be nice, you feel uncomfortable. To remove all this there are natural remedies and medicinal remedies. Natural remedies and good but slow. Medicinals do have side effects. Many chemical lotions can cause irritation and redness. We should always try skin products in controlled ways because they destroy our skin slowly. Please before using any type of skin products please ask a dermatologist about it. Be careful with the skin. 

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult a specialist & get answers to your questions!
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