Home Care:

Normal skin color may return on its own in some cases.

You may use lotions that bleach or lighten the skin to reduce discoloration or to even the skin tone where hypopigmented areas are large or very noticeable.

Selsun Blue, ketoconazole, or tolnaftate (Tinactin) lotion can help treat tinea versicolor. Apply as directed to the affected area daily until the discolored patches disappear. Tinea versicolor often returns, even with treatment.

You may use cosmetics or skin dyes to hide skin color changes. Makeup can also help hide mottled skin, but it will not cure the problem.

Avoid too much sun exposure and use sunblock. Hypopigmented skin sunburns easily, and hyperpigmented skin may get even darker. In darker-skinned people, skin damage may cause permanent hyperpigmentation.

Call your health care provider if:

Contact your doctor if:

• You have any lasting skin color changes that don't have a known cause
• You notice a new mole or other growth
• An existing growth has changed color, size, or appearance

What to expect at your health care provider's office:

The doctor will carefully examine the skin and ask questions about your medical history and symptoms, such as:

• When did the skin color change develop?
• Did it develop slowly or suddenly?
• Is it getting worse? How quickly?
• What is your normal skin color?
• Does the skin color change appear in more than one place?
• Have you had any injury to the skin (including sunburn or frequent suntans)?
• Are you pregnant?
• What medications do you take?
• What medical treatments have you had?
• What other symptoms do you have?

Tests that may be done include:

• Scrapings of skin lesions
• Skin biopsy
• Wood's lamp (ultraviolet light) examination of the skin