dark skinned people:

[Denisemomof4]

if you have an injury or rash on your skin and it removes all the pigment in your skin, will it return or will it scar? Dd8 has had bug bites that scar her for like 6 months or so (she's Chinese and very dark skinned. THE MOST GORGEOUS skin!!!) but they never removed the pigment in her skin. She had poison ivy on her arms and the pigment is totally removed now. Her arms are very dark in other areas but where the rash was it's now a light pink. Will this scar her arms? Is there anything I should do?

 

She also regularly gets blotchy marks on her face. It doesn't matter if she's darker or lighter (by the end of winter she can be almost as light as us - good ole New England winters!;), she will get darker brown patches on her face. No rash, no nothing, just darker patches. What is this?

[MamaT]

My 14yo bi-racial daughter has scars from years ago that the color has not returned to. I guess I don't know if it ever will. I have tried scar-remover cream on her and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Thankfully, they are not in places that are really noticeable. On the other hand, when my black daughter scars, the color seems to return after a while. I guess may it is an individual thing??

 

My 14yo's face also gets very splotchy in the summer. I took her to a dermatologist and he told us she has excema. He prescribed a lotion for her face. If she uses it, her face doesn't splotch when she gets in the sun. She doesn't have that problem in the winter.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My dd has some lighter spots where she's had eczema - they are smooth, with no scarring, but are just lighter.

[Denisemomof4]

but excema is rash like, isn't it? Her skin looks completely normal just darker areas. No raised skin, no itching, no hurting/burning, no nothing. They appear out of nowhere and disappear out of nowhere..... usually in a few days.

 

I would feel awful if her arms were permanently scarred from poison ivy. I won't say anything because I don't want to make her self conscious. But really, they are so noticeable since the rash took up 1/3 of each arm. Poor kid.

[NanceXToo]

My dd has some lighter spots where she's had eczema - they are smooth, with no scarring, but are just lighter.

 

Mine, too. She's not dark skinned but tans nicely in summer, and from her eczema and/or the medication we sometimes have to use on her for her eczema, she's got lighter patches particularly at the crease of her elbows. I don't know if they will ever look the same as the rest of her skin.

[Jean in Newcastle]

but excema is rash like, isn't it? Her skin looks completely normal just darker areas. No raised skin, no itching, no hurting/burning, no nothing. They appear out of nowhere and disappear out of nowhere..... usually in a few days.

 

I would feel awful if her arms were permanently scarred from poison ivy. I won't say anything because I don't want to make her self conscious. But really, they are so noticeable since the rash took up 1/3 of each arm. Poor kid.

 

With the eczema comment I was really answering the "if pigment is removed, will it return or will it scar" question. In dd's case pigment was removed but it didn't do either - it became smooth and lighter at least for a long time. I do think that eventually the pigment has returned in spots.

 

I don't know about the darker splotches because we haven't had that experience. (Wouldn't that be the opposite problem - hyperpigmentation in those areas?)

[Denisemomof4]

With the eczema comment I was really answering the "if pigment is removed, will it return or will it scar" question. In dd's case pigment was removed but it didn't do either - it became smooth and lighter at least for a long time. I do think that eventually the pigment has returned in spots.

 

I don't know about the darker splotches because we haven't had that experience. (Wouldn't that be the opposite problem - hyperpigmentation in those areas?)

 

on her face, the darker patches simply disappear just as mysteriously as they appeared.

 

Nance - the creases of her elbows is where her scarring is the worst. It spreads up and down her arms and really looks awful. She's NOWHERE done healing, not even close, so I have no idea what she will eventually look like. But the skin is just So light there that I don't know if it will ever blend again.

 

I know it will take many months before I'll know for sure, but I just wanted to ask.

[ashfern]

I'm not dark skinned but I do have permanent scars from poison ivy. I have small white areas on my arms where the poison ivy was located. I had it really bad last time and it seems to have stripped the little bit of pigment that I did have out of those areas.

[missmoe]

My dd had scars that started out white, but returned to the normal darker color. It did take about a year. My husband has permanent scars--although they are lighter than the rest of his skin color, they do blend in a bit. They no longer have that really white/pink color to them.

 

One of my dd's has a large white spot on her face that showed up a few years ago. The Dr told us it was a birthmark. It is a spot that just doesn't have pigment. We use sunscreen on it, but it still becomes very distinctive every summer. Not sure about that as she wasn't really born with it--it showed up when she was about 7. Can birthmarks really show up later? or is the white dr clueless about Asian skin?