What didn’t the UV camera show sun damage?

Dr. Irwin
August 7, 2011
Hi Dr. Iwin, My derm's assistance took a polarized picture of me. The picture showed that I did not have any sun damage. How it that possible when I have brown spots on my face? What's the best topicals to get rid of the brown spots? I know for sure I got these brown spots from staying out in the sun and not melasma.

You bring up a good point which is that lab tests, cameras, computer imaging, etc can all be in error sometimes or just not functioning well that day.  Since almost everyone has at least some sun damage by the age of 20, I suspect the camera wasn’t working properly.  Please see my article on to treat brown spots. You can also see the melasma article – just ignore the hormone section – everything else about prevention and treatment applies.  Dr. I

Dr. Brandith Irwin, MD

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Hi, I’m Dr. Irwin. I believe that consumers deserve a medically trained and unbiased skin care advocate.

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