LAM FACIAL PLASTICS

Hi Dr. Lam,

I am Chinese with fairly light skin colour, and I received a Kenalog injection after a hypertrophic scar excision 5 months ago. The hypertrophy is gone, but the area beside the Kenalog injection site is showing skin atrophy and hypopigmentation (skin lightening).

My questions are:

- is the hypopigmentation permanent, or will it go away on its own & how long will it take?

- if the hypopigmentation doesn't go away on its own, what can I do to repigment the area? For instance, would exposure to the sun help, or would that just make the neighboring skin darker without repigmenting the problematic area?

- will the skin atrophy heal itself? if not, what can I do about it?

many times but not always hypo pigmentation and atrophy improves over the first year after injection. however, it does not always do that. i do not have a strong recommendation. sun does not help. hypo pigmentation is very hard to treat. i don't have a lot of success with managing it. possibly give it time or speak to your treating physician. this is one of the reasons why i almost never use steroids unless it is a frank keloid. hope your situation improves.
best,
sml