Suggest Treatment To Remove Dark Circle Around The Mouth

Posted on Sat, 15 Mar 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 15 Mar 2014 Answered on

Thu, 3 Apr 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I have a dark circle around my mouth. What can I do

Answered by Dr. Johny Chacko (17 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Dark circles around mouth Detailed Answer: Hello XXXX, I understand that you are having dark circles around the mouth. There are a lot of causes for it like seborrhoeic melanosis, vitamin B12 deficiencies, a past history of medicine allergy (Fixed drug eruptions), Lichen planus pigmentosus, ochronosis if you have applied lightening creams containing hydroquinone for long duration, Addisonian pigmentation, perioral dermatitis etc. You have a feature to upload the images of the pigmentation yourself at the right side of the query page, please utilize that so that I can answer your query better. You can also send the image as attachment to YYYY@YYYY , with the subject as 'Attn: Dr. Johny Chacko'. Hope this helped, Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Johny Chacko (26 minutes later)

Attached is my picture. Notice how my cheeks are lighter than the area around my mouth. What can I do?

Answered by Dr. Johny Chacko (37 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Pigmentation around mouth Detailed Answer: Hello, Welcome back. Thanks for the photograph. I usually see such a distribution of pigmentation in Vitamin B12 deficiencies, Anemia and Hypothyroidism. I also see a lot of sunlight induced tanning very evident over the exposed areas of neck, forehead and nose. I will recommend you to do a thyroid function test, Hemoglobin and Serum vitamin B12. If hypothyroidism, B12 deficiency and anemia is there we should treat that for the pigmentation to become better. Are you a vegetarian or non vegetarian ? Any problems with digestion and bowel habits ? Do you drink a lot of alcohol ? I will recommend you to take B'complex and vitamin C supplements daily. Start these after getting the blood test. Avoid excessive sunlight exposure. Apply a sunscreen over face and neck on a daily basis during mornings and reapply after every 3 hours. Wash your face with a face wash containing gycolic acid twice a day. If you can get 4-6 sittings of chemical peels done by a cosmetic dermatologist every two weeks it will help. A nonsteroidal non hydroquinone lightening cream containing kojic acid can be applied at night over the dark areas. Drink plenty of water. Include more fruits and vegetables in your diet especially citrus fruits and anything with lots of color. Hope this helped, Take care.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar