Why does mixed cream make you beautiful quickly but harmful in the long run?

I used mixed cream for more than a month, my skin was white, beautiful, and smooth. The second month, my facial skin became thinner, revealing tiny blood vessels, my face was white in some places, dark in others, after half a year of treatment my skin has not recovered. Why? (Thu Hoai, 26 years old, Hau Giang )

Reply:

Doctors at Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City often receive similar questions when examining and treating cases with complications due to using mixed creams, instant whitening creams, medicinal wine for acne treatment...

The cause of your condition may be due to the strong corticosteroids contained in cosmetics. This is a type of drug used to treat many different diseases with anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, and immunosuppressive effects. However, corticosteroids are prescription drugs, and a doctor must prescribe the drug with the appropriate concentration for each disease condition. The duration of use of the drug is usually about 1-2 weeks, and close monitoring is required to control side effects and ensure safety.

At first, when using mixed creams containing strong corticoids, the drug has anti-inflammatory effects, inhibits the activity of melanocytes that secrete melanin, causing acne scars to quickly disappear, and the skin becomes bright and smooth in a few days to a few weeks.

Long-term abuse of corticosteroids causes the epidermis to thin and the skin to atrophy. This is a skin complication, called corticoid dependence, corticoid poisoning or "corticoid addiction". The skin is thin and atrophied, so the blood vessels in the epidermis are visible and easily damaged by physical impacts (sunlight, collisions) causing subcutaneous bleeding, red skin due to dilated blood vessels, dark spots, and widespread patchy skin... Long-term inhibition of inflammation makes the skin unable to resist external agents, making it susceptible to infection.

If you stop using the cream suddenly, your skin becomes very sensitive, prone to allergies, rashes, acne, pustules, inflammation, tiny blisters... forcing you to reapply the cream.

In addition to local side effects, using mixed creams containing corticosteroids over a large area for a long time can cause Cushing's syndrome (a condition of prolonged increase in blood cortisol due to uncontrolled corticosteroid abuse). Patients have symptoms such as weight gain, round, red and full face, buffalo hump (fat accumulation between the shoulders), abdominal obesity, thin limbs, thin skin, stretch marks on the abdomen, thighs, and chest.

Recovery from corticosteroid-infected skin is very difficult and can take up to a year, depending on the extent of the damage. Patients must be patient and follow the doctor's instructions. You need to see a dermatologist for diagnosis and advice on skin recovery measures appropriate to your current condition. If your skin is "addicted to corticosteroids", you cannot stop taking the medication abruptly, but must have a gradual "quit" regimen.

In particular, treating hyperpigmentation, melasma, and patchy skin takes a long time, on average 6-12 months. In cases of skin loss of pigmentation, there is almost no possibility of recovery. Depending on the level of melasma, the doctor will decide on treatment methods such as topical medications and laser. Usually, after 5-10 laser treatments, each 1-4 weeks apart, the results will be seen.

Proper skin care such as not wearing makeup, using moisturizers without fragrances and preservatives, avoiding sunlight as much as possible, avoiding exposure to polluted environments... is very important to increase treatment effectiveness.

Master, Doctor Vu Thi Thuy Trang
Dermatology - Skin Aesthetics
Tam Anh General Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City

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