hi dark name of the underarms is a
common complaint in people with our skin
tone they tend to get embarrassed to
wear sleeveless because they are very
conscious of the darkening in their
underarms so why does this occur and
what can we do to reduce the darkening
is what I will be discussing this video
today I make videos in English and Hindi
on skincare and on hair transplantation
if such content is of interest to you
then please subscribe to the channel
what are the causes for dark armpits
number one is friction if you are
overweight or have lack skin in the
underarm area or if you wear very tight
fitted clothes this can lead to
darkening when two surfaces rub against
each other it can lead to friction and
darkening of the skin so if you have
dark underarms you would want to wear
loose fitted clothes and make sure that
nothing is tugging into your underarms
okay so even if you wear sleeveless or
full sleeves clothes make sure that your
armhole is wide the armhole should not
be too tight and because there is
stitching in this area of the armhole
this also tends to tug into the skin in
the armpit
thus tugging combined with sweating
leads to irritation and redness in this
area which over prolonged period can
lead to darkening of the skin in this
area the acne can also occur as a result
of post inflammatory hyperpigmentation
meaning thereby that if there is any
kind of lesion in your underarm area if
there you develop any kind of boils or a
born due to waxing or any kind of injury
has occurred in your underarms that can
heal with pigmentation so this is the
reason why there is darkening of the
under darkness along with thickening of
the skin in the underarms is seen in a
condition known as acanthosis nigricans
it is a condition in which there is
insulin resistance insulin is the
hormone that is made by
organ called pancreas in the body when
are the cells in our body are not able
to take up the insulin this organ makes
a lot of insulin okay so because of this
increase in insulin in the body this
leads to thickening of the skin and
darkening of skin in the body folds so
there can be thickening and darkening in
the forehead area around our mouth in
the neck underarms below your breasts
and in the groin if you have thickening
and darkening in these areas you may
want to check your fasting and
postprandial insulin levels and fasting
and postprandial blood sugar levels so
how can we prevent the underarms from
getting darker
first and foremost avoid waxing applying
hot wax can really lead to injury to the
skin along with application of hot wax
just the whole process of waxing and the
way in which the cloth or the wax strip
is pulled can lead to injury to the skin
so we get a lot of patients who come
with complaints of red boils in this
area after waxing all complain of slight
kind of itching or burning every time
they have a waxing session so if you do
have dark underarms you really want to
stay away from applying any hot wax also
avoid using hair removal creams hair
removal creams contain strong chemicals
which can irritate the skin so the
underarm skin is already sensitive
because there is a lot of sweat and
because it is under a lot of friction so
the sweat and friction combined with any
kind of application of an irritant in
this area can lead to redness and
darkening so you really want to stay
away from these hair removal creams so
then how to remove the hair in this area
you can either shave or go for laser
hair reduction laser hair reduction
works wonderfully well in your underarms
because the hair is thick in this area
laser works really well and it can
reduce the hair growth by 70 to 80
percent whatever hair you are left with
can easily be
once every two to three months and the
hair that will grow back will be very
thin and will row very slowly so it will
be very easily manageable for you so
instead of going for waxing and hair
removal creams it is best to just get a
laser hair reduction if you don't want
to go for laser then you can just shave
this area do not use deodorants in this
area if you are bothered about your body
order then you can use a roll-on roll-on
formulation is much milder on the skin
and it does not irritate the skin as
much as do drills freeze deodorant
sprays are pressurized and also contain
alcohol this can really irritate the
skin so you want to stay away from
deodorants and only use roll-on in this
area make sure you wear loose fitted
clothes specially while sleeping
do not wear any kind of garment which
thugs into your underarms so during the
day if you have to wear clothes which
are fitted make sure that at least at
night you wear something very loose and
there's there should be no contact with
the underarm area try to wear cotton
garments which are the best and cause
least irritation to the skin so next
time you buy clothes make sure that
whatever clothes you're wearing has a
slightly wider armhole whether it is
sleeveless or sleeves you have to make
sure that the armhole is slightly wide
so that it does not tug into your armpit
so what can we do if you have dark
armpits whenever a patient approaches me
with complains of darkening of the
armpit
I usually take detailed history as to
how long it has been there any kind of
exposure to irritant which could be the
cause for this darkening so history
about hair removal methods also the type
of clothing she wears and then I like to
examine the patient properly if she has
darkening in other areas of her body
such as the neck under the breast and
groin then I will suspect a can ptosis
nigricans and want to run a few blood
tests if there is an increase in the
inside
levels then we have to go for weight
reduction follow a strict diet do
regular exercise and also be on
metformin tablets so if you have
darkness and thickening of skin in your
underarms area please visit your
dermatologist or endocrinologist for
evaluation apart from removing the
incrementing agents such as stopping
waxing and threading the area and
wearing tight fitted clothes what is it
that you can do to lighten the
pigmentation in this area you can use
creams which contain glycolic acid you
can use 6 or 12 percent glycolic acid
creams in your underarms area on
alternate days at night ok so you can
apply a very small quantity I would
suggest that you start with a very small
quantity and do a test patch apply this
cream in a small area about 1 in to 1
centimeter square area on your underarms
observe it for about 48 hours and see if
you're able to tolerate if there are no
reactions there's no redness and itching
then you can go ahead and apply this
cream on your entire underarms so the
creams which I prefer are gp6 cream or
GP 12 cream or glyco 6 or glyco 12 cream
so you can use any of these creams on
your underarm area so basically you have
to look for the content of glycolic acid
in your cream if you have very thick
skin then I would suggest you go for 12%
you only have darkening with very
minimal or no thickening of the skin in
your underarms then go for 6% glycolic
acid make sure that your skin in the
underarm area is not irritated or read
when you're starting this glycolic acid
cream otherwise it will only make it
worse whenever you are using a glycolic
acid cream at night make sure that you
apply a good moisturizer in the morning
so after you take a bath you apply a
moisturizer in this area over which you
can apply your roll-on also a lot of
people have a habit
of rubbing this area while taking a bath
they tend to use loofah and drop this
area hoping that they can get rid of
this darkening please do not rub your
underarms you have to be very gentle
while you wash your underarms you don't
want to rub it or tug on it
no and the pigmentation is not going to
come out by just rubbing or you know
using any kind of loofah in this area so
you have to be very gentle wash it with
plain soap and water very lightly dab it
after you finished bathing and then
moisturize this area well now I'm going
to tell you a few home remedies that can
be effective in getting rid of dark
underarms you can mix gourd and turmeric
so make sure that the stomach is organic
okay you want organic healthy so mix
gourd and turmeric make it a paste and
you can apply it on your underarms leave
it on for about 30 minutes and wash it
off this will help in lightening the
skin under your arm you can also use
papaya mix cord and papaya and apply it
on your underarms this can also help in
lightening your underarms area you could
also apply a mix of honey turmeric and
rosewater on your underarms you can
apply this mixture leave it on for about
10 to 15 minutes and wash it off with
cold water there are a lot of recipes on
the internet where they suggest applying
baking soda or lemon in your underarm
area remember that it should not apply
any kind of harsh substances in your
underarms which can cause more
irritation and more darkening so please
do not apply baking soda on your skin
anywhere even if you do want to apply
lemon I agree that lemon is a good skin
lightening agent but if you have dry
sensitive skin or irritated skin then
lemon can just make the condition worse
so if you want just apply lemon just add
one or two drops of lemon in either curd
or honey and apply a very small quantity
in a small part of your underarms see if
you can tolerate it
then go ahead and apply it on your
entire underarms okay don't be very over
enthusiastic when you using lemon on
your skin because it can cause
irritation I hope you found this video
informative and useful and learnt a few
points if you like such skin and hair
related content you can also follow me
on my Instagram handle dr. Archelle MD
where I regularly post videos on skin
and hair care thank you for watching
[Music]