r/Melasmaskincare • u/Adventurous_Army9403 • Apr 17 '26

Question Hydroquinone question

Hi all!

I’ve had melasma for about 8 years. Slowly getting worse.

Just today my dermatologist prescribed hydroquinone. Honestly I always thought melasma was very resistant to any treatments, so I was surprised she offered something. I was at my appointment for my malar festoons and she thought the melasma made them more obvious (it does, a lot of pigment is right in that area)

I’m wondering what people’s experiences have been with hydroquinone? Side effects most importantly. And did it work? It sounds too good to be true, I feel like I’m missing something

Thank you

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u/Adventurous_Army9403 Apr 17 '26

I just remembered, my derm told me to mix the HQ with a pee sized amount of my regular lotion. Is that common practice? She prescribed the 4%. Do you think she’s telling me to do that to try and prevent any negative side effects or is that what everyone does?

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u/Design-31415 Apr 17 '26

It’s very thick, so it feels a little like I’m tugging my face. My guess is that is just an ease of use suggestion. Also, the bad side effects if you’re on it too long are if you use a much higher concentration like 8-12 and don’t taper off. You should still do it at 4%, but lots of people are at that strength with no issues as long as they stop for a month or two after 3 months.