Corticosteroid creams should not be used to lighten skin
What are corticosteroid creams?
Corticosteroid and steroid creams are prescribed by doctors to treat inflammation from skin conditions like eczema, dermatitis and psoriasis. These corticosteroid and steroid creams contain powerful ingredients like Clobetasol Propionate, Fluocinolone Acetonide or Betamethasone Dipropionate. They also come with specific usage instructions because of the potentially serious side effects they can cause.
Skin lightening is a side effect of steroid creams
Many unscrupulous sellers have been selling and marketing steroid creams as skin bleaching creams. This is because one of known side effects of using steroid creams is the lightening of skin color.
The mechanics behind steroid cream-induced skin lightening is not yet known. However, one theory is that steroids may reduce the number of melanocytes or melanocyte activity in the skin.
Black market bleaching creams containing corticosteroids pose a hidden danger
Given that the sale of steroid creams for the purposes of skin bleaching is illegal, black market skin lightening products will not list steroids under their ingredients list anywhere on their packaging. Therefore, most dangerous black market bleaching creams go undetected. Thus, the detection and removal of these harmful steroid-containing skin lightening creams usually only occur after it is too late.
Examples of known skin lightening creams that contain corticosteroids |
| Bio Claire Lightening Body Creme contains the powerful steroid Clobetasol Propionate |
| Shalina Diproson cream and lotion contains two types of steroids, Betamethasone Dipropionate and Fluocinolone Acetonide |
| Esapharma Movate contains two types of steroids, Clobetasol Propionate and Fluocinolone Acetonide |
Corticosteroid cream use can lead to irreversible and devastating skin damage
Corticosteroid creams are almost unrivaled in their ability to quickly lighten skin color. However, its short-term results are just that — short-term. When these creams are discontinued, the skin will usually revert back to its original color eventually. Meanwhile, prolonged use of the creams can lead to devastating skin damage which is usually irreversible.
Prolonged use of skin lightening creams containing corticosteroids may lead to many skin problems:
- Thin and fragile skin
- Stellate spontaneous pseudoscars
- Strange stretch marks
- Folliculitis, inflamed hair follicles
- Skin rash, irritation
- Itchiness
- Raised bumps on the skin
- Excess hair growth
- Fungal or bacterial skin infections
Serious side effects to health:
Corticosteroids are absorbed through the skin and into the blood. Corticosteroids are also more rapidly absorbed when applied to the face, increasing their danger as this is where most people would apply them in order to lighten their complexion.
- Corticosteroids appear in breast milk. Corticosteroids in breast milk harms newborns by inhibiting their growth.
- Exogenous Cushing syndrome
what if i only used the corticosteroids for like a month, will that still cause permanent damages?
Hi Joana, the skin is quite resilient – it should recover after one month of use, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
i use Bio Claire whitening Cream under my eye san hydroquinone for two days the day after I used a eye uplift serum , I now have mild redness and mild stinging and burning on the undereye bone area where I apply it. I’ve stop using it. what can i do about the irritation, will it get worst. When can I begin using my eye uplift cream again.
Hi tasha, the skin under the eye is very thin and fragile. If its reddened, its best to “baby” it back to health by either leaving it alone or applying some soothing natural oil over the area (like coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil). Avoid applying any store-bought lotions or creams. These contain chemicals and preservatives that might irritate or dry the area further.
You can use your eye uplift cream again once the area is healed.
The press paints a more positive view for coconut oil than it justifies. Believe it or not, the most latest tests on coconut oil does not provide sufficient evidence to reinforce the health benefit remarks made for coconut oil even though it is better for a person than other saturated fats. Google “Weight Loss Cover-Up Exposed” by Astrid Lasco, to find the truth about what really makes us sick. Read it people!
Hi Hessa,
Is Bio Claire a really unsafe cream/oil/lotion. Ive read som really good things about it, but have also read som shocking stuff!!
Im very confused and not sure whether to buy it or not!??
At the age of eleven years old, I had a light skin color. As a kid I was playing around, and decided to use different creams to lighten my skin even more, and Hoped that it works. The key word Hope, but it was not the reality.
I have paid the price, I suffer from chronic rash that I still have to this day, and my skin is actually darker than the color I had for eleven years, before I knew what lighten cream was/meant. I couldn’t recognize myself after that happened and trying to make peace with it to this day.
Now, I’m older, and I have not used, and promised myself not to use any cream/product with out knowing 1000 % it will have a well lasting result. How long it will take to be treat myself does not matter, how well it will work in the long run, does. I am looking to find the solution to the skin condition I have, how I could regain my skin color, and heal the rash.
I Would like to ask if someone knows a doctor in North carolina, or in the country, that is able to guide me in what I could do or can be done, with a reasonable price, if such in exitence. Feel free to share, if you have some valuable information about that.
Thank you,
Alanna
Hie, im realy sad that i only found out about the dangers of using movate wen its too l8t. Hav used it 4 9mnths nw and dnt like wat i c in the mira. Sumtymz i fl like i cnt hld on much longer bt i thnk of my 1mnth old baby, i hv stpd 4 a month bt the pain nd iritation i gt. I dnt knw wat to do nymore
I’ve been using skin lightening creams for 10 years and didn’t know they were dangerous until I researched. I was using a cream called lemovate E, also with omic cream and a carrot gell. Well after my pregnancy I noticed very thick and discolored reddish stretch marks all down my inner arms, breast, and stomach. I had lost 30 pound before and never had any stretch marks while on the creams, so I’m wondering if it was the increase in hormones and the creams (which might have contained steroids) that caused the stretch marks. Also how can i treat them because they look very bad and are noticeable my body was perfect before them and now I’m devastated. I’ve tried trilastin but no results, I’m a fair skinned African American and I’m wondering if anyone else out there has experienced this or have a cure for it. If so please help!