Nose significantly lighter than rest of my face

[ariraff]

Hi, I'm a dark skinned African American male whose nose is noticeably lighter than the rest of my face. This shows up very noticeably in pictures and I wanted to know if there was a way I could gradually darken my nose to match the rest of my face. If possible I obviously don't want to use make up or lighten the rest of my face. Just make my nose darker.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

Thanks for posting your query.

I can understand your concern for the light skin of the nose as compared to the rest of the face. We usually term it as dyschromia which is an alteration of the color of the skin and it can be hyperchromia or hypochromia.

Treating skin lightening conditions is a challenge for the patient as well as clinician. First of all, covering the area with makeup and exposure to the sun are there as treatment options but exposure to sun is accompanied with exposure to undesirable UV rays as well. Moreover these are temporary methods.

Different treatment options reported to be effective include topical medication such as Psoralen with ultraviolet A phototherapy (PUVA)and Narrow band ultraviolet B NB-UVB phototherapy, 308 nm Excimer laser and Fractional resurfacing. Phototherapy helps in re-pigmentation by stimulation of melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), increased melanocyte proliferation, and melanogenesis. Melanocytes are pigment-producing cells in the skin of humans.

So you can consult a dermatologist and discuss the possibility of phototherapy with him. You can also go in for targeted phototherapy since it specifically targets the affected skin and it avoids many of the side effects of conventional phototherapy.

Hope that this information helps and hope that you get better soon.

Wishing you good health.

[CeolaDavis]

You can contact any doctors in your area. I had the same problem when i went for rhinoplasty in Dr.Mcleans clinic in Toronto. He also performed a laser treatment to get rid of the pigmentation form my nose.