Dark Skin in Private Parts, Inner Thighs & Underarms - Dr. Amee Daxini | Doctors' Circle

Registration No. 89509 Maharashtra Medical Council, 2003 Dr. Amee Daxini | Phone 📞 099013 54408 (Online & in-person appointment can be booked online or by call) | Consultant Dermatologist & Cosmetologist | Think Skin Clinic, Sarjapur Road, Bangalore, India Subscribe to    / @doctors-circle  World's Largest Health Platform    / @doctorscirclehindi   दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा हेल्थ प्लेटफार्म    / @doctorscircle-knowyourdoctor   Know Your Doctor So, I hear this question very frequently, “Doc, uh, the skin in my underarms or thighs or around my neck is extremely dark or darker than the rest of my body. Is this normal?” I'm sure many of you face the same thing. So let's discuss today the causes, the treatment and understand why this exactly happens. Let's understand the causes of darkening of the skin around your thighs, underarms, or areola. The first is the mechanical cause. It's because of friction or chafing. When you wear tight clothing or you wear, you know, clothes which do not help the sweat to get absorbed in these areas, it can cause irritation and subsequently increase the melanin production, and you get pigmentation. Second is physiological causes, like hormone changes. When you attain puberty, that's the time melanin production increases because of the hormone influence. So you start noticing the areola becoming darker, the underarm and the groin becoming a little darker than what they were originally. Third, it could be a genetic variation like Indians and Africans. We have Fitzpatrick skin types IV, V and VI. Here, the basal melanin production is much higher. So in areas where there is overlap of skin, it tends to feel a little darker than the rest of the body. The next cause could be due to certain abnormal changes in the body, and the commonest is insulin resistance, which causes Acanthosis Nigricans. Now, what this exactly means is that in the folds of the area, the skin becomes thicker. It looks velvety and much darker than the rest of the body. And this is because of glycogen deposition in those skin folds. This could be pre-diabetic, or it could be due to certain other hormonal changes which need attention immediately. And last but not least, the reason could be due to the hair removal methods. The hot wax that we apply in this area can cause friction and subsequently can lead to pigmentation. Even repeated shaving with blunt razors, the amount of friction that you use can subsequently cause pigmentation. So be careful of what is happening, understand the cause and accordingly get yourself treated. So it could be normal when there is a slight change in pigmentation in your underarms or your thigh or groin area. But it could be physiological like during puberty or during pregnancy. It also could be normal when you have changed your lifestyle like wearing tighter clothes or when it's hot and humid and there is chafing. But when it's not normal is when it suddenly starts becoming darker, when it's spreading or the skin is becoming thicker in those areas and you start noticing skin tags, it's abnormal. Especially in younger children where it's darker around the neck because that could suggest Acanthosis Nigricans because of a pre-diabetic phenomenon. Dark underarms | dark inner thighs | dark neck | skin darkening causes | pigmentation on neck | pigmentation on thighs | dark underarms causes | how to lighten dark underarms | dark underarms treatment | dark underarms home remedies | dark inner thighs treatment | dark inner thighs causes | Acanthosis Nigricans | Insulin resistance dark skin | hormonal pigmentation #doctorscircle #skindarkening #darkskin #skinlightening