edokid, did they heal on their own or did your friend use anything? I’m assuming it faded on it’s own, right?
I’m not taking any medication that would make me photosensitive, but I do wash my chest and back with a benzoyl peroxide scrub because I tend to break out. I’ve been doing that for a long time though and never had any complications before.
Thank you for the advice, Kitty. I’ll be sure to not exfoliate for awhile still. I’ll also look into the hydroquinone, but I’ll probably give the spots about another week of healing before I do that.
I’ve got a follow-up appointment on Wednesday at the clinic that did the procedure. It’ll be exactly one week later. If it truly is hyperpigmentation, I’ll ask them about the IPL laser. I do have a somewhat silly question about that though. How would I be sure the laser won’t take away too much pigment and leave me with permanent white spots? I’m a little scared of the laser thing after this!
Also, Ekokid, did your friend’s marks go completely away, or did they leave traces of marks?
I would also take shower with cool or lukewarm water. Don’t wash with really hot water.
If you want stronger creams, you’d need to see a dermatologist.
Theoretically the IPL could cause hypopigmentation (white spots). But that would have nothing to do with “taking pigmentation away”, you’d have to be burned by it in a way that destroys melanin centers in yours skin and then the scar tissue would be white (I’m sure you’ve seen some scars go white, and this seems pretty common for laser scars).
The IPL doesn’t remove your ability to produce melanin, it just removes melanin that’s currently there. So your skin should keep producing it’s normal amount of melanin and only the abnormally-produced pigmentation will disappear.
Check out RealSelf.com for a lot of before/after photos as well as good reviews and bad reviews. It will give you an idea of how risky it is (much less risky than laser hair removal, to be honest, hehe).
My friend didn’t do anything they went away on their own, completely gone no trace at all. They were worse than yours too, but only on the stomach so not as bad since they weren’t everywhere.
I would not put anything on your body, other than pure vitamin K to take care of your issues. No hydroquinone yet. This will go away by itself. Just do not peel anything off.
Here’s today’s picture (Day 3):
48 Hours >> Three Days
I can definitely tell they are healing now. They are much lighter and look to be fading. I’m not sure how much of that has to do with the natural healing process, or the fact that I’m slathering on Bio-Cream like it’s going out of style.
They still aren’t raised or scabbed, but as I mentioned yesterday, I have a feeling a few of them will peel like a sunburn. They are also not sensitive to warm water in the shower anymore.
Kitty, thank you so much for the information on the IPL. Those pictures look amazing! Once all is said and done, if there are any remaining marks I’ll look into it. Would IPL work for light birthmarks as well?
Ekokid, I’m very sorry for your fiend, but I’m glad to hear your friend’s marks were worse than mine, but they still went away completely.
Romeo, you’ve been a lifesaver as well! I’ll pick up some liquid vitamin K today and make sure not to pick or peel anything.
Just to answer your other question too, IPL does work for birthmarks. When I did my stomach I started with IPL for hair removal. The tech asked me if she wanted me to go over my birthmark so I told her I don’t really care. She said some people like them etc etc. Anyway, you’d never know I had a birthmark now. After pretty much 2 treatments it just flaked off like a scab. I actually forgot I had it until you mentioned that!
Yes IPL works for birthmarks too.
I really doubt the biocream has anything to do with how fast these are fading. But it’s looking great, I bet they will be gone sooner rather than later and you shouldn’t need any hydroquinone or IPL treatments at this rate.
Here are the pictures for day four:
Day 3 >> Day 4
There’s not much of a change when it comes to fading today. They have all officially turned a deep brown and some are starting to get a little rough to the touch. I’m pretty sure they are superficial burns that will eventually flake/peel. I guess I’ll be left with light spots once they do though. Going from one extreme to the other.
That’s awesome news about IPL and birthmarks! I’d really like to have one removed. You may be able to tell from the pictures, I’ve got a light birthmark on my upper left pec. The pigment is a bit more brown there and the laser hair removal burns just enhanced it. It’s barely noticeable, but it has bothered me for a long time.
That’s pretty much exactly what mine was like, so easy to remove. Looks like of gross when it does though, it’s completely pain free but just noticed one day it was flaking off, almost like I don’t know what actually haha couldn’t think of a good example! It just flakes off though and is gone!
If these burns do flake off and become light (hypopigmented) marks, you will not be able to fix it with IPL or hydroquinone or anything else really. Do everything in your power to not exfoliate them or flake them off for as long as possible. Hypopigmentation like that tends to be more likely when scabs flake off before the under layers of skin can heal completely and your skins ability to produce melanin is damaged.
I would keep it soft and moisturized and slathered in aloe so it doesn’t flake any sooner than it has to, personally.
Kitty I was referring to my birthmark flaking off after IPL, I hope his burns/pigmentation doesn’t flake off that would def not be a good sign!!!
edo, I know you were! 
I was just making an unrelated comment to him since he said his are starting to get rough like they are about to peel. I was just warning him not to peel them too soon (as some people are tempted to do when they see flakey/peeling skin). I wasn’t referring to your birthmark at all. I had the same thing happen with a couple freckles on my arm and I’ve been exfoliating those like crazy. 
I can’t really get hypopigmentation though since I’m already so white.
Day 5’s update:
Day 4 >> Day 5
Now I’m a bit nervous because they are starting to peel! The last think I’d want is hypopigmentation! I have been keeping them as moisturized as possible. About once every two hours I reapply Bio-Cream. I’ve not picked at them or exfoliated in the shower, but a few are just starting to peel off like a sunburn would. There’s nothing I can really do to stop it.
The ones that are peeling the most are on my upper left pec over my birthmark. You can see from the comparison pictures that yesterday was much darker. That’s because the top layer of skin is gone today. It’s not white underneath, just a bit pink like I’d expect new skin to be.
The spots on my stomach don’t look like they will be ready to peel for a few days at least. Hopefully when they do they won’t leave white spots…
P.S. Sorry, Edokid! I just realized I have been referring to you as Ekokid. I apologize for the misktake!
That’s totally fine if they peel on their own. That’s gonna happen just like with a sunburn. I just meant don’t force them to peel because you’ll inevitably peel off a few layers of living skin off with the dead tissue and that is bad. And if they scab, don’t pick at them, just let them fall off on their own in a hot shower or something.
Keeping them moisturized will minimized early-peeling, but there’s not much else you can do. Sounds like it’s going fine for now.
So what was the final answer in this situation. Were the settings too high? If this happens, would a good practitioner lower settings, change laser type? What’s the progress? did the marks fade?
Also, If this happened, would the treatment be effective? or was too much energy absorbed by the melanin?