Castor Oil & Cod Liver Oil
Castor Oil is highly popular for its amazing properties in healing and maintaining the skins health. When the amazing Castor oil is blended with the goodness of COD liver oil, it can effectively remove the white sunspots from your skin. Both of these have the ability to stimulate and boost the production of melanin in the skin, thereby restoring the skin and retaining the affected area with its natural pigmentation.
Method: Mix equal parts of both Castor oil and COD liver oil, and massage the affected area thoroughly. You can also dab this mixture in a cotton ball and apply it to the white sunspots directly. Leave it on for 25 to 30 minutes and wash it off with plain water. For best results, apply this twice a day.
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What Is Idiopathic Guttate Hypomelanosis
Idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis is the medical term for white spots on the skin. The name is descriptive, referring to the cause and appearance of these spots: idiopathic means the cause is unknown, guttate refers to their teardrop shape and hypomelanosis, the lighter-colored skin.
IGH spots appear gradually on the skin over time and tend to be small commonly between 26 mm. Most are smooth to the touch, but some can feel scaly.
While the factors that lead to IGH are still disputed and a definitive cause has yet to be established, the most commonly accepted explanation is that the melanin production process is disrupted by accumulated ultraviolet damage as a result of years of sun exposure.
This link to sun exposure is partially based on the fact that the spots most often appear on areas exposed to the sun such as the arms, legs, face and back.
Although sun damage is one explanation for these spots, others believe they are part of the natural aging process. Genetics may also predispose some to IGH as the condition seems to run in families.
Who Does It Affect
IGH typically occurs in people with lighter skin tones over the age of 40, and becomes increasingly common with age. Although the exact number of people with IGH is unknown, one study found that more than 85% of people over the age of 40 had some level of white sunspots. Women are also more prone to IGH than men, however this condition can affect anyone.
Sun damage, which is believed by some to trigger IGH, accumulates over time. This may explain why IGH is more common with age as the effects of sun damage compound over years of exposure.
Additionally, those with lighter skin tones are subjected to more UV damage over the course of a lifetime than those with darker skin due to lighter skins lower levels of melanin, a natural defense against UV damage. This increased amount of UV damage may explain why lighter- skinned people are more likely to develop IGH.
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How To Get Rid Of White Spots On The Skin Due To Sun Poisoning
This article was co-authored by Mohiba Tareen, MD. Mohiba Tareen is a board certified Dermatologist and the founder of Tareen Dermatology located in Roseville, Maplewood and Faribault, Minnesota. Dr. Tareen completed medical school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she was inducted into the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. While a dermatology resident at Columbia University in New York City, she won the Conrad Stritzler award of the New York Dermatologic Society and was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Tareen then completed a procedural fellowship which focused on dermatologic surgery, laser, and cosmetic dermatology.There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 348,254 times.
Sometimes a sunburn can result in dark or light spots on the skin. The spots can be small or clumped together to form large spots that seem to be either lacking pigment or resemble a very dark skin tone. Seeing a dermatologist would be the best first plan of action, but if you cannot afford to see one or an appointment isnt readily available, there are ways of treating and preventing this “sun spotting” or sun poisoning yourself.
Treatments For White Spots On Skin
Now that you know how to guard your skin from additional UV damage, its time to treat the appearance of the white spots already present on your skin. Though you can treat brown spots with brightening creams and antioxidants, white spots are different. White spots are an absence of pigment, and its rarely possible to make the pigment return to your skin. You may not be able to reverse the loss of pigment in your skin, but you can treat the spots by evening the overall appearance of your skin, which makes spots less evident. You can also prevent the white spots from expanding by protecting your skin with a broad spectrum sunscreen at all times. In addition to keeping your existing white spots from growing and reducing the contrast between the white spots and your regular skin tone, sunscreen prevents further damage to your skin and helps stop additional white spots from developing.
If youve used skincare with powerful antioxidants and AHAs for brighter, more even looking skin, but you still wish to pursue further treatments, there are other options. An experienced dermatologist, like Dr. Harold Lancer, can assess your skin properly and proceed with treatments ideal for your skin.
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How To Prevent White Spots On The Skin
White spots on the skin caused by the sun can be difficult to treat. Thus, the best form of treatment is to prevent them from occurring in the first place.
One of the most effective ways to prevent white spots on the skin is by wearing a daily moisturizer with SPF on your face and sunscreen on any exposed areas of the body. Wearing sun protection is crucial for not only preventing wrinkles and fine lines, but also for reducing your risk of skin cancer.
An additional way to help prevent white spots from developing on your skin is by staying out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day. Even the highest SPF wont block all UV rays, so remember to seek shade during the hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
White Spots From Sun Damage
While the above skin conditions are mostly through no fault of the sufferer, white spots on the skin caused by sun damage are definitely preventable. In this case, the skin has been so affected by the UV rays that it stops producing melanin â the skin chemical that gives it color.
While these spots are caused by too much sun, they are not skin cancer. However, they can be a good indication that you are spending too much time in the sun and are likely to be a sign that you might have other moles on your skin that you should keep an eye on.
While white spots on the skin may in most causes be nothing to worry about, they may indicate that you need to take a little more care of your skin. Using sunscreen, avoiding trigger foods and generally caring for your skin can help to avoid these white spots and will keep your skin looking healthy.
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S For Prevention Of White Spots On Skin
Before anything else, youll want to think about prevention. Even if youve already developed white spots on your skin, protecting your skin from further sun damage is vital. A chic sunhat is a fashionable solution for keeping the sun off your face and shoulders, but its no replacement for sunscreen. Wearing sunscreen with a minimum protection of SPF 30 is essential in fact, there is relatively no difference in how much sun protection you receive between a sunscreen with SPF 30 and one with a higher SPF. Sheer Fluid Sun Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Sunscreen is the ideal sunscreen for protecting your skin while also providing anti-aging benefits. This weightless broad spectrum sunscreen protects skin from harmful UV rays and treats it with plant extracts and plant-derived stem cells to improve your skins radiance and reduce the appearance of current sun damage. Even better, it works as a primer, allowing your makeup to glide on without the greasy finish of most sunscreens. A sunscreen that prevents further damage while also treating your skin is worth its weight in gold.
Castor Oil & Cod Liver Oil For Patch Skin
Castor oil
Castor oil is popular for healing skin problems & when castor oil blends with Cod liver oil, then it becomes the best remedy for a treat the sunspots on any kind of skin.
When you apply it to the affected area, it stimulates & boosts the production of melanin in the skin. The mixture restores the skin and improves the skin tone with natural pigmentation.
How to use it?
Take equal parts of castor oil and COD liver oil, mix well & apply on the affected area. Dab a cotton ball on the mixture and apply the affected area.
Leaves for 30 minutes and clean with water.
Apply 2 times in a day for the best result.
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White Patches Of Skin: Tinea Versicolor
The other extremely common white-patch condition is called tinea versicolor. This is a mild, superficial fungal infection, somewhat similar to ringworm . Since the affected skin doesnt change color well with sun exposure, it usually becomes apparent as white patches during the summer months. In the winter it may seem to disappear, or even seem to become slightly darkened patches as the surrounding skin gets paler .
Tinea versicolor is most common in adolescents and young adults 15 to 30 years old . The infection is chronic and recurs easily, but it causes no other health problems. People are most susceptible to the fungus during hot months in humid areas. Taking steroids, excessive sweating, wearing tight-fitting clothing, and chronic illness can all predispose a person to tinea versicolor, but someone without any of these factors can still get this mild infection.
The patches of tinea versicolor can appear white, tan, or pink. The white patches look very similar to pityriasis alba. There are two good ways to tell them apart.
The most reliable way is to have a doctor gently scrape the white patch, dissolve the scrapings in potassium hydroxide, and look at what is left under a microscope. The classic spaghetti-and-meatball appearance of budding yeast confirms the diagnosis of tinea versicolor. A quicker and easier approach is to look at the patches under a black light. The patches of tinea versicolor will usually light up with a blue-white, yellow, or orange color.
White Spots On Skin: Is The Sun Strictly To Blame
IGH is caused by a decrease of melanin in the skin. It mostly manifests on areas that receive the highest amount of UV damage, such as the face, arms, legs and back. This leads many scientists to believe that cumulative sun damage is the primary culprit behind these small, white spots.
In a 2011 study published in the International Journal of Dermatology, researchers found a high prevalence of IGH cases in patients over 40 years of age This suggests that IGH is associated with cumulative sun exposure and, thus, becomes more noticeable as we age.
Other researchers argue that we dont have enough statistical data to prove that chronic sun exposure is entirely to blame. Another hypothesis is that IGH is hereditary, with an earlier study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology noticing a higher prevalence of IGH in families
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How Are White Patches On Skin Treated
Treatment of white skin patches depends on the underlying cause. The goal is to address any underlying cause and return pigment to the skin, if possible.
Repigmentation is often possible with timely diagnosis and treatment. Congenital conditions that cause hypopigmentation are less likely to respond to treatment.
Potential treatments include:
- Depigmentation: This involves lightening the surrounding skin to make the spots less noticeable. This may be an option for people with vitiligo on more than half of their skin surface.
- Medications: These include antifungals, corticosteroids, immunomodulators, and vitamin A derivatives.
- This involves aiming ultraviolet rays at the white patches to help darken the skin.
- Surgical procedures: One example is skin grafting with pieces of skin that have a usual pigmentation.
What Are White Spots On Skin
Have you ever noticed white spots on your skin? While they may be caused by a more serious skin condition, most of the time they are harmless and caused by sun exposure. This condition is called idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis and is benign.
White spots on the skin appear lighter than your normal skin color. Most of the time we think sun exposure causes extra melanin production and brown spots or a tan to form on the skin. However, exposure to the sun can also cause the skin to stop producing melanin, which causes white spots in those areas.
Sometimes white spots on the skin can also be caused by fungal infections, so it is wise to see your doctor to examine your skin.
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How To Get Rid Of Light Spots And Patches
To give you expert advice, we turned to Nada Elbuluk, MD, MSc, FAAD, who is a board-certified dermatologist and Director and Founder of the Skin of Color Center and Pigmentary Disorders Clinic at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Dr. Elbuluk recommends these three self-care tips for anyone who notices light spots:
Pay close attention to your skin for a few weeks. Heres what to look for:
When to see a dermatologist:
Protect the light areas from the sun. Often, your body will start making pigment to heal a light area. If your body is making pigment, sunlight can cause your body to overdo it, says Dr. Elbuluk. When your body overdoes it on making pigment, those light spots become dark spots.To protect your skin from sunlight, dermatologists recommend following these tips when youre outdoors. Cover the light-colored skin with clothing like long sleeves and pants. You also want to stay in the shade.If you cannot cover up with clothing, apply sunscreen before going outdoors. To get the protection you need, use sunscreen that offers all of the following:
Can White Spots Be Caused By Worms
With a worm infection, it is possible to have an impairment in the absorption of vitamins and nutrients through digestion, and this can cause white spot on the skin. However, white spots do not always appear with worm infections. Some food can also cause white spots on the skin, especially those with calcium, vitamin D and vitamin E, like milk, sardines, butter and peanuts.
If the cause of white spots on the skin is actually a worm infection, this should be confirmed with a stool sample so that treatment can be initiated.
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Your Dermatologist Can Help
Those arent ALL of the conditions that can cause white or light spots like vitiligo, but its most of them. Others are really rare and could require a lot of explanation better suited to residency training in dermatology, so I left them out! I dont expect that this description will be sufficient to avoid a visit to a dermatologist because theres a LOT more to diagnosing skin disease than knowing the names of diseases and a few lines of description, but it should help you wrap your mind around the possibilities and get some insight into how were thinking during a physical exam in our office. Remember, you could have BOTH vitiligo and another condition described here! Its helpful to know which is which, so that your dermatologist can determine when and how to treat them. Now you can go to your dermatologist appointment armed with knowledge, which should help both of you figure out what your white or light spots are, and how best to treat them!
* Images courtesy of VisualDx.
Signs And Symptoms Of White Spots On Skin
You may not feel anything as white spots on your skin appear. However, signs of white spots on skin from sun exposure include:
- Small spots that are lighter than your normal skin color
- Round or oval-shaped spots
- Petal-shaped spots that look like a flower
- Spots on areas most exposed to sun, including arms, legs, and upper back
- Spots 2 to 6 millimeters in size
- Spots developing slowly over the years
- Spots that do not have a pattern or grouping
- Spots that do not change in size or go away once present
- Spots that are typically smooth
These white spots on skin do not affect the hair follicle or cause the hair to lose its pigment. Also, spots affect men and women differently. For example, many women gain white spots on their skin at younger ages than men.
Most people with small white spots caused by the sun do not feel any symptoms as they develop. These spots are not itchy or inflamed, and are considered harmless. The risk of developing white sun spots increases with age and frequency of unprotected sun exposure.
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