That dark patch on your cheekย that you thought was a healing sunburn could actually be the sign of a common, though little-known skin condition called melasma.
Melasma causes brown or brownish-gray patches to appear on your skin ? most commonly on your face, along the forehead, cheeks, upper lip and chin. Itโs caused by an overactivity of the skinโs color-making cells, called melanocytes, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
The good news? Itโs easily treatable and rarely dangerous. Melasma can range fromย mild to severeย andย affects more than five million Americans, 90 percent of whom are women. It is also more common among people with darker skin tones, including Latinos and people of African, Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean descent, according to the AAD.
โMany of my patients arenโt aware their discoloration is a common disorder named melasma,โ Lauren Ploch, a Georgia-based dermatologist, told HuffPost. โThey often attribute it to a previous sunburn or oral contraceptive pills. Many people arenโt aware that it is treatable.โ
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