I have dark spots on my chest and neck which devastates me because they are unsightly. What causes them, including the black patches on my neck, breasts, and chest especially during pregnancy? Is there a relationship between their appearance on the chest and neck?
This will be important as far as the treatment and what you will do to get rid of dark spots on the neck including the back of the neck, or around the chest area.
What causes these black spots
Table of content
By the end of your reading, you’ll get a grasp of the causes them from our descriptions of their appearances. Knowing causes or identifying them is a good step into getting rid of them including those on your torso.
1. Acanthosis Nigricans
As a skin disorder, Acanthosis Nigricans is presented as dark patches around the neck and in the armpit. What causes Acanthosis Nigricans’ dark patches on the neck? Among the causes are hypothyroidism (due to an underactive thyroid), Cushing’s syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome.
In fact, dark spots on the neck as diabetes symptoms should be checked promptly because this results in obesity because people with diabetes or pre-diabetes conditions normally have insulin resistance. Other causes are stomach cancer, certain medications, and inheritance of faulty genes.
These darkened patches are thickened, and either black patches or brownish grey in color. They cause a lot of discomforts because they are dry, rough in texture and at times they cause an itchy sensation.
If you want Acanthosis Nigricans neck cure you should see a specialist to administer chemotherapy treatment, radiotherapy or go for surgery. You can take medicines to reduce levels of insulin because there is no treatment in particular.
2. Chloasma or Melasma
Melasma is one of the things that causes dark spots on face and neck. It is quite a challenging situation for more women who will develop them while pregnant. What leads to this pregnancy skin problem is when the levels of estrogen and progesterone levels shoot up. They, therefore, trigger the melanocyte cells to produce more melanin causing them to appear.
One of the treatments to get rid of your melasma spots is Intense Pulsed Light treatments which may cost you about 2400 US dollars for the whole of the session. This procedure uses fine crystals to remove a very thin layer of skin that harbor the dark blotches hence promoting a newer and young-looking resurfaced skin.
The other way to get rid of them when they are due to melasma is going for the microdermabrasion. Some of the tools will actually exfoliate dead layer of skin that has the dark spots.
There are also some good OTC creams and solutions to lighten and reduce black spots on the neck. Olay Regenerist Targeted Tone Enhancer with rich vitamin A ingredients will work on your skin because it is highly absorbable and this will increase the rate of cell regeneration. You can also acquire some Skincare Sunscreen pads or Bright moisturizing sunscreen with a scale of 30 or above.
Apart from treatments, anyone especially women can prevent melasma. Ensure that you try to minimize the duration you spend in the sun because what happens is that UVR rays will worsen the appearance of dark patches around your neck.
3. Pityriasis Versicolor or tinea Versicolor
This is a rash on the skin that is caused by Malassezia Pityrosporum germ that is found occurring naturally on human skin. However under certain extreme conditions e.g. hot and humid weather these germs multiply abnormally.
At the point of inception, they begin on your chest, neck or the upper arms. After spreading on the body they cause dark patches around the abdomen, thighs and the back. Note that this condition is fairly noticeable in people with light skin because of a massive darkened spot on neck. They are seen as pale patches and a bit dark scaly patches on the neck of people with dark skin complexion.
However not harmful to health, it is a healthier concern to get to know how to deal with it. What is the treatment for Tinea Versicolor? You can remove the dark skin patches on the neck using these treatments:
Topical Antifungals
Topical antifungal drugs or medicine will be prescribed by your doctor for dark spot removal. This form of cure is recommended after a severe or large part is affected.
Shampooing
You may also use shampooing such as the Ketoconazole shampoo to kill the germs that cause the rash or else you should prepare a dilute Selenium sulfide shampoo for daily cleaning:
- Measure equal amounts of the shampoo and water to apply the affected area.
- Do rinsing after 10 minutes.
4. Dark Spots on neck after Shaving
This is a common situation seen in men who have grown more beards that extend to Adam’s apple area. The reason behind their formation after shaving is attributed to ingrowing hairs due to poor shaving methods and soft flesh in the front neck skin.
Masses of bacteria are attracted in the hair follicle leading to the formation of small bumps. After the bumps are cleared with time, small dark spots will form.
Some of the non-prescription creams which contain glycolic, salicylic, and lactic or malic acids are what you need to exfoliate and remove dead cells. Remember to apply corticosteroid creams to minimize inflammation then wipe with quality moisturizer after shaving.
5. Hyperpigmentation
Hyperpigmentation itself surrounds the concept of extra skin coloring which goes beyond the normal pigmentation in particular. The following can lead to the black spot on neck hyperpigmentation resulting in dark skin patches on the neck or around the neck.
a). Age Spots or Liver Spots
Those on chest area are caused by age spots. These are flat dark patches or dark spots on chest and back caused by excess melanin. The main factor that will enhance formation of the dark patches is the sun. The UVR rays from the sun worsen the appearance of the patches in that they become darker.
The truth about age spots on the chest is that people who have a fair skin tend to be affected more but age spots is a problem for any type of skin. Now, you don’t need to be in tension as age spots have no health problems.
b). Ageing
It is a considerable factor because age spots have a tendency to develop in older people.
6. Acne Scars
Secondly, apart from hyperpigmentation, those on chest from acne may appear on the chest after acne especially a severe acne. The main cause of acne on chest is hair follicle clogging. This is one of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation that occurs if acne is not dealt with in time.
7. Injury
Can an injury cause dark spots on the chest? Yes. One the means of injuring the chest is through chest wall reconstruction and sternal resection surgery amongst other physical possible ways of causing damage to the chest.
You will find that some sorts of dark marks are left on the chest area. Due to sun exposure for longer durations, it triggers the melanin-producing cells to react by releasing more melanin pigment in higher concentrations to help filter UVR light. They thus become darkened spots on chest.
8. Seborrhoeic Keratosis
If they are on chest and stomach it may be a result of Seborrhoeic keratosis – which are skin blemishes that “look like raised warts.” [www.nhs.uk]. these blemishes are more common in older people.
9. Moles
They are non-cancerous raised spots that may occur on the chest. Do moles cause black spots on the chest? These dark or brown spots at times raised on the skin may be acquired as a hereditary factor through which the genetic make-up of an individual plays a contributing factor. However, during pregnancy, the moles usually get much darkened and change in size i.e. become larger by diameter.
On back, chest, torso or shoulders
A common cause for this area isTinea Versicolor which specifically tend to lie more on the upper chest. Furthermore, acne will run across from the chest area up to the shoulders and don’t be surprised to see them on torso/body trunk including your back if you recently recovered from acne problem.
When on chest, back, between breasts and torso
What does a black spot on chest skin mean or should I be worried about dark spots between breasts of mine? Do not despair. Treatments to get rid of them are available. But first though, have some time to know what brings about the formation of black patches. So what causes them?
The most common cause is liver spots or solar lentigo due to sun exposure more so in the summer. Acne or acne scars is yet another common cause. If you have diabetic or suffer from liver disease or liver problems, you may well fall a victim too.
Other causes of the spots on chest, breast, or torso include all we have seen above such as shaving, hyperpigmentation, melasma, aging, age spots, seborrhoeic keratosis, skin moles, among other causes
How to get rid of them
What treatment can I opt for if I want these spots on chest area and tummy to disappear? Depending on the various causes discussed so far the methods range from Over the Counter topical products and creams to dermatological cures and procedures. Some of the common ways to banish these spots include:
1. Retinoids
This is another option to reduce dark spots on the neck decollete e.g. age spots. Retinoids are vitamin A creams or serum solutions found in retinol, AHA alpha-hydroxyls or proxylane in pharmacists or over the counter.
Do your decollate a favor by applying SPF 30 sunscreen moisturizers rich in vitamin B5, C and E not forgetting omega 3, and antioxidants.
2. Benzoyl Peroxide
As topical cream products, benzoyl peroxide can be helpful in fighting the bacteria that cause acne. In addition, this may slough off dead layers of the epidermis hence removing the blemishes and other black spots around the chest area and the shoulders.
3. Mandelic Acid
For you to clear acne to apply body creams with Mandelic acid when you are about to take bath or shower. Ensure that you use a recommended acne washing.
4. Surgery
If they result from moles then the answer is to see a dermatologist. After determining whether it is a malignant mole then it will be removed.
Note: According to William P. Coleman III, MD, surgery done to remove black spots on chest skin such as non-cancerous congenital naevi, may end up leaving worse scars.
5. Laser Therapy
Laser treatment will no doubt require several sessions to successfully get rid of dark patches around your neck. In short, this is a procedure that destroys the cells without any damage done to the skin.
Prior to any laser therapy, you need to know a few significant issues related to the costs, any side effects and what you may experience during the processes.
6. Dermabrasion
After you realize manual exfoliation was not very effective for dark spot removal, you may have the urge to get a dermatologist or plastic surgeon to do minor dermabrasion. This is the fact the they lie in the deeper skin layers.
7. Do Manual Exfoliation or Microdermabrasion
A manual exfoliator containing lower concentrations of salicylic acid (at most 3%) is really good for the thin layer to get rid of the dark spots between breasts to remove acne scars. Ensure that you do gentle scrubbing to remove the dead layer causing a black spot on chest skin.
8. Cryotherapy
In cryotherapy, liquid nitrogen is used to freeze and destroy age spots on the chest and tummy/stomach. The other that can be done away with is seborrhoeic keratosis. This process is done on each dark patch on the chest or if dark spots on the torso are clustered together and are accompanied by scarring.
Reference and Sources
- http://www.livestrong.com/article/239567-causes-of-dark-spots-developing-on-the-chest-torso/
- http://www.healthline.com/health/acanthosis-nigricans#Overview1
- http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/acanthosis-nigricans/Pages/Introduction.aspx
- http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/changing/post-pregnancy-skincare/
- http://www.livestrong.com/article/239567-causes-of-dark-spots-developing-on-the-chest-torso/
- http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Chest-Acne
- http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/age-spots/basics/treatment/con-20030473