Treatment of Axillary Hyperpigmentation ?

• Axillary hyperpigmentation is a common complaint among darker skin types.
• After having excluded postinflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH), acanthosis nigricans (and pseudo-acanthosis nigricans), and done the necessary investigations there comes the time when a treatment option is asked by the patient.

• Study from India. Effect of topical 2% kojic acid + desonide 0.05%.
• Method:

1. Double blind (triple blind according to the authors !)
2. Inclusion criteria: female aged 18 to 30 with no treatment tried in the preceeding 6 weeks:
   1. Group A: n (number of patients) =38. 2% kojic acid and desonide ointment applied once nightly
   2. Group B: n=30. Liquid paraffin ointment applied once nightly
3. Evaluation at 4, 8 and 12 weeks:
   1. clinical photographs
   2. histological examination
   3. Visual analog scale (VAS)

• Results suggest an improvement with the formulation whereas no treatment is seen with the paraffin ointment.
• Comment: interesting results to be confirmed in further studies.

Authors disclosed that there are no conflicts of interest and no financial support was received.

Source of information: Dabas G. Axillary hyperpigmentation – Can topical 2% kojic acid and 0.5% desonide help ? P1433. European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Annual Meeting – Istanbul, Turkey, 2-6 October 2013