Our own Dr. Susan Van Dyke, in this video, demonstrates Fraxel, a type of laser treatment that is helpful for acne scars and skin discoloration, issues many of you readers face with your PCOS.
Dr. Van Dyke's office is located in Paradise Valley, Arizona.
For more information visit www.vandykelaser.com
About a month ago, Dr. Susan Van Dyke did a great webinar for inCYST on the many aspects of PCOS that can be helped by working with a dermatologist. One of the conditions she spoke about was melasma, a skin patchiness/darkening that can be caused by hormonal changes and the use of birth control pills.
Coincidentally, a few days later, a friend casually mentioned that she had noticed the skin on her head was darkening even though she was diligent with sunscreen. What she showed me looked just like what I'd seen in Dr. Van Dyke's slides…and when I asked, she mentioned that the skin change actually did appear after she changed birth control pills about a year earlier.
I saw her last night, and she shared that she had been to see a dermatologist after we spoke and it turned out that she DID have melasma.
I had originally posted the photo you see in this post on our inCYST Facebook page and several women commented they had similar skin changes but had no idea they could be caused by birth control pills. I was very surprised these women did not know this, since so many women with PCOS have been prescribed them!
So I wanted to expand the audience that this message got to, to be sure that all women know, if you are on birth control pills, and your skin starts to look different, there may be a connection. And there are options for addressing it.
I'm really grateful to have Dr. Van Dyke on our team, she is just a wealth of information! I am working on editing a guest post she's done for us, it will be up later today. If you'd like to have a copy of her webinar (which includes Power Points), click here to order.