Initially hoping that the marks would fade with her tan, Erika tried to disguise them with
make-up. But when they didn't go she finally visited her GP, who diagnosed it as melasma.
'I'd never heard of it, but my GP explained it was the result of increased levels of
certain hormones in my body caused by the contraceptive pill I'd just changed to,' the
33-year old Heart FM DJ explains.
'I was really angry as I'd never taken the Pill had I known the effect it could have.'
The condition is also known as the 'mask of pregnancy' because it can affect women in
their second and third trimesters due to hormonal changes. After coming off the brand of
Pill she was on, Erika was told the best thing she could do was to stay out of the sun and
hope the marks would fade over time.
'For the next two years I always wore sun block and thick make-up hoping that the marks
would disappear, but they didn't,' she says.
'I felt disfigured, particularly as I'd suffered from acne when I was a teenager. Having
to wear heavy make-up again brought back unhappy memories and feeling of
self-consciousness.'
Finally, she become so unhappy that she began researching the condition in a bid to find
an alternative treatment.
But it was a chance encounter in the hairdresser's salon that finally prompted her to take
action.
'I was moaning about the marks to my friend and a woman in the chair next to me said she's
had hers removed with microdermabrasion, which uses tiny crystals to exfoliate the skin,'
she says. 'I organised a consultation immediately'.
Unfortunately, Erika's pigmentation went too deep for microdermabrasion to be effective
and a chemical peel was recommended. These can be of various strengths and work to strip
away the top layers of the skin.
'I wasn't over the moon a the thought of having a chemical peel, but I didn't want to
spend years feeling self-conscious about my skin and decided to go for it,' she says.
'Although I could have tried bleaches and whitening treatments first, I thought it was
better to spend £350 on one more treatment I thought had more chance of working than
money on lots of different lotions.
'Before undergoing treatment, Erika spent three weeks applying the prescription cream
Retin-A. A derivative of vitamin A,this helped to exfoliate the top layers of skin and
boost skin renewal in preparation for the peel. And although the treatmenti tself only
took 90 minutes, she was advised to take five days off work to allow the process to be
completed.
'I was really nervous before the treatment and, although it wasn't painful, my skin
tingled and looked pink afterwards, as if I'd been in the sun. It stayed that way for the
next few days until it started to peel off in strips. 'It looked so disgusting I didn't
want to go out and my skin felt really tight in the mornings,' she reveals. 'I looked
awful and there was a moment when I thought I'd made things worse.
Thankfully, 10 days after the treatment she began to see the benefits. 'The peeling had
stopped and the brown marks were virtually unnoticeable,' she says. 'And now my skin has
never looked better. It's all the same colour and I feel confident enough to go out with
just a slick of lip gloss and some mascara.
Although I looked like a freak, it was only for a week and it was definitely worth it as
it's really boosted my self-confidence. 'Last week I saw on old friend and she rushed up
to tell me how amazing my skin looked. Having been called pizza face as a teenager I never
thought anyone would say that about my skin.
You can hear Erika every weekday between 4-7pm on Heart 106.2 FM.
Erika underwent treatment at The Private Clinic.
To make an appointment call 0800 599 9911
or fill this form
To request a brochure click here
ADDRESS
98 Harley Street, London W1G 7HZ
Nearest Underground stations are: Regent's Park, Oxford Circus, Baker Street and Great
Portland Street
Location map
St.James's Building, 79 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 6EJ
Nearest British Rail Station: Oxford Road
Location map
FAX: London Fax: 020 7409 7854 - Manchester Fax: 0161 236 5094
EMAIL: data@theprivateclinic.co.uk
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