Dark spot’s left after pimple heals

So, after an acne pimple you can be left with a dark spot. The pimple bump finally flattens and heals. Great. But, that damn dark spot! Now, there’s a good chance you popped or picked or both…and, that makes matters worse, many say, because the inflammatory response deposits more melanin into the upper layer of the skin

This is frustrating and irritating, but it’s just how life works.

And, this can affect people of any age I’ve learned. And, for those with darker complexion, it can be more of a problem. It might get you upset or angry. But, it’s just the way it is…

How do you fade the dark spot part 1

So, the question becomes: How do you get rid of the dark spot?

So, I’ve had this problem, and I’ve also done a bunch of research on the issue. That’s just the type of person I am. I research and read everything. While some folks might be watching TV or living life, I’m researching things. I didn’t choose to be this way. But, my nature can be helpful to you. Because I can save you time.

I’ve tried various things. And, I’ll skip telling you about what failed. I’ll tell you what I got the best results from.

Get rid of the pimple

First things first. You need to get rid of the active pimple. I usually pop the sucker because it seems like when I don’t, the pimple will just linger forever and end up leaving a dark scar anyway. This is just my personal experience. Everybody recommends that you don’t pop or pick an active pimple. They say it just makes the scar worse.

But, I’m telling you in my experience…from trial-and-error…that if I don’t pop the pimple, it just takes forever and when it finally deflates and heals: there’s a damn scar left anyway! So, I personally figure: what’s the point? If I’m left with a dark spot scar either way, I’ll just pop the damn thing to accelerate this process. But, I would say, try to do as little squeezing/popping as possible. If there’s just a white head, I will scratch that off with my nail. I will try to do minimum squeezing!

Now, I’m not recommending you go that route. Just relaying my experience. I find that when I put benzyl peroxide on the zit, the zit just gets worse. Some say that the benzyl peroxide is pulling the pus-gunk to the epidermis surface. But, honestly…I don’t find that any topical treatments help to get rid of the zit. I find that the fastest way to deal with the problem is to just pop the damn thing.

Dermatologists pop zits

And, you notice, if popping a zit is so bad, why is it that this is the approach that dermatologists use? Granted they’ve got their fancy little tool, but you can watch the YouTube videos of dermatologists gleefully popping zits. It’s funny because dermatologists online are always harping about how you should leave the zit alone. But, when you’re in the office, they’re popping away. It’s weird. Do what I say, not what I do! Granted, they’ve got that fancy little gizmo they use. But, dermatologists most certainly do extract the gunk out of zits! To provide just one example, see this video. If you look on YouTube there are hundreds of videos of dermatologists popping zits. So, form your own conclusion about the topic.

And, in particular, if the zit has a white head: I’m going to squeeze the pus out. If there’s no white head, I would encourage you not to mess with it.

How do you fade the dark spot part 2

So, here’s the method that I’ve found gets rid of the dark spot fastest for me. As I mentioned, I’ve tried all sorts of things that I’m not mentioning. I’m discussing what brought me best results.

You need four things:

  • aloe vera
  • salicylic acid
  • glycolic acid (I’d say this is optional. But, it’s good to have.)
  • kojic acid

So, the aloe vera is a moisturizer. Salicylic acid reduces inflammation. But, more importantly, it turns over skin cells. This is what we want. Glycolic acid also turns over skin cells. I like to alternate between the salicylic acid and glycolic acid a bit. Kojic acid’s mechanism of action is a bit complex, and we don’t really need to understand it for our purposes. We’ll be using it because it’s the agent that actually fades the dark spot.

Okay, those are the four items. You can actually get all four from Amazon for not too expensive. I think you could probably get all four for under $80.

How often do you apply the aloe and acids?

So, in my experience, you don’t want to use these every single day. You want to give the skin a break. You have to sort of sense by looking in the mirror. But, for example, let’s say on day one, you leave the salicylic acid on for eight hours. Then, you apply the kojic acid for fifteen minutes. You wash that off. And, then you apply a little aloe vera. Some days use glycolic acid in place of salicylic. I alternate them based upon intuition.

Well, maybe I’ll do that three days in a row. Then, I’ll take a day off. Then the next day, I’ll use just a little kojic acid. Then, the next day, I’ll use all four.

You have to just sort of use your intuition and what you’re seeing in the mirror to be your guide.

Many opinions and products about fading acne scars

So, if you search the Internet, you are going to find thousands of pages discussing post-acne dark spot, hyperpigmentation scars. A lot of the pages will explain why the dark spot forms etc. in great depth. I’m not doing that here, because who really cares about the biological process. We just want to get rid of the spot, right?

And, this is a huge, money-making industry, so you’ll see thousands of different products that promise getting rid of a dark spot in three days. That’s not going to happen. You will not get rid of a hyperpigmentation spot in three days!

There are so many products and creams and acids out there. I didn’t want to over complicate things here.

I’m giving you a method that has worked for me. It can take a couple weeks before seeing some results. But, I always get results doing this. It can take a good six weeks or more for the dark spot to be gone. But, you can start seeing some fading in a few weeks. And, some fading is an improvement.

Like I said, there are so damn many products out there!

But, these three primary products have brought the best results for me out of everything I’ve tried.

Good luck