Recent studies have shown that there are many products being sold online that claim to bleach your skin white, but some have terrible side effects, while others don’t work at all, and so are ripping off people who are in some cases quite desperate for a solution to their conditions.
There are many reasons why a person might want to bleach or lighten their skin. Burns, scars, freckles, birthmarks and conditions such as hypopigmentation and hyperpigmentation can cause embarrassment and mental distress to the affected person.
To start with, one treatment which has been prescribed by doctors for many years is hydroquinone containing creams.
Hydroquinone is a powerful bleaching substance, and is not recommended for use for more than a couple of weeks at a time.
The problem is, the skin is constantly regenerating itself, and so to achieve permanent results, the cream must by applied on an ongoing basis, at least once every few months, so as to maintain the depigmentation effects.
Some of the side effects that can results from ongoing use of this chemical are dark blue-black bruising of the skin, thickening of the skin, and in some cases, nausea, headaches, and even hallucination if the toxicity builds up to a high enough level in the bloodstream.
Other creams sold online from countries with less strict rules and regulations for manufacurers contain dangerous amounts of mercury, a substance that can cause brain damage, and other terrible effects.
Products are being sold that claim to be able to lighten the skin through swallowing a pill, or even injecting a substance into the veins.
First of all, injections should only be carried out by a qualified professional, as the unqualified attempt to use needles on one’s self can cause infection, and even death, if air is pumped into the bloodstream, as it can cause heart attack.
Besides which, none of these things work, you cannot whiten the skin through anything but a direct application of a cream to the external skin of a person.
Safe Skin Bleaching Treatments
It’s only by doing some serious research, such as in medical journals and in a fairly well recognised and reputable source like Wikipedia that you can work out which active ingredients are both safe and effective to use to treat uneven skin tone.
Arbutin, glycolic acid, kojic acid and a small handful of other chemicals are the only things that seriously work to turn the skin to a completely white color, while also being almost completely free of side effects.
These chemicals work fairly well in combination with each other, and it is best to take them in combation, so that there is only a small dose of each one, and so the potential side effects of one drug are minimized, as the other does the same work, with different results.
These chemicals are over the counter, and while a drug like hydroquinone needs a prescription, or in some countries is banned completely, these chemicals have been used safely for years, and can be bought online or through a chemist without consulting a doctor.
It is however a very good idea to consult a doctor before starting a skin whitening treatment, and to get expert advice from as many reliable sources as you possibly can.
To research a brand, try doing a who is lookup on the domain name of the site. If the site is a few years old, and if you also check to see if there are any bad reviews on the site, you can be fairly sure that it is a product that will work.
Try Googling the name of the brand or site, along with keywords such as problems, side effects, dangers, scam, and the like, and you should turn up any negative reviews, and also check the positive reviews and before and after shots as well.
It is not a decision that should be taken lightly, to bleach your skin white, it can be a dramatic change if you have fairly naturally dark skin, but for some, it is the only way to even out the skin tone, or to achieve the results that make them finally feel good about themselves. Take care to avoid the potential dangerous products that exist out there though, and good luck.