The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is planning on regulating the sales of over-the-counter fairness creams with corticosteroids, a steroid hormone that is known to cause skin damage. The move would be welcome, considering both the social and health hazards caused by fairness creams in the country. In what seems like hangover from the colonial times, Indians are petrified of tans and are fixated with lighter skin tones. That’s why there’s always an evergreen market for skin-lightening products like bleaches and fairness creams.

Loyal customers, who have been using these creams for decades, repose a lot of faith in them and don’t spare a thought about the safety of some the leading brands in the market. Most creams contain a cocktail of harmful skin-lightening ingredients, which can cause serious skin problems in the long run. Dr Sudheendra Udbalker, Consultant Dermatologist at Fortis Hospitals Bengaluru warns against such skin-lightening creams: "Steroids in face cream can cause damage to skin by causing thinning, redness and increased fine hairs in the area. These changes are sometimes difficult to revert." He says that most fairness creams in the market don't display their ingredients on the cover, making it difficult for customers to find out which creams are safe and which aren't. These chemicals work by limiting the production of melanin, the pigment that gives skin its colour. Here are some of the side effects caused by steroid-laced fairness creams.

Skin thinning and wrinkling

Skin atrophy refers to thinning and wrinkling of the skin due to constant steroid exposure. Topical use of steroids make the skin go through three phases – preatrophy, where the blood vessels become visible on the skin surface; atrophy where the skin actually starts thinning; and tachyphylaxis where your skin stops responding to the cream. Continuous and indiscriminate use of fairness creams can make your skin very fragile and susceptible to damage.

Acne

Indiscriminate use of fairness creams can also cause acne. Corticosteroids cause thinning of the upper layer of the skin, leaving it more susceptible to acne. In the short run, corticosteroids are prescribed to reduce inflammation caused by pimples. But in the long run, these creams can trigger acne. If you are under the age of 30, your chances of developing pimples are more. Steroids in fairness creams can cause an increase in the growth of bacteria responsible for causing acne, like P acnes and facial mites like Demodex folliculoroum.

Scarring

Prolonged use of fairness creams fortified with corticosteroids may cause striae, or stretchmark-like scars on the skin. Many low-quality fairness creams can affect the structure of the skin, making it thinner by depleting the collagen under the skin and causing elongated scars. This kind of side effect is associated with long time usage of fairness creams with corticosteroids.

Skin inflammation

Fairness creams can cause dermatitis or skin inflammation around the mouth area called perioral dermatitis. This side effect is seen more commonly in women than in men. The area around the person’s mouth develops papules and pustules, especially near the vermillion border of the lips. This can further aggravate and cause inflammation, reddening and peeling of the skin around the mouth.

Skin cancer

Although not entirely substantiated, theoretically steroids in the fairness creams can increase your risk of developing certain cancers. Topical corticosteroids in these creams are suspected to suppress the immune system, which can then give a chance for cancerous cells to proliferate when your body's defences are weakened.

Our obsession for fair skins have helped many of these harmful fairness cream brands thrive in the market. One of the most popular brands of fairness creams have been around in the country since 1975. Although girls as young as 21 are known to use the cream, there is evidence to suggest that even 12-year-olds are using it to get fairer skin. If the government manages to secure a ban on these creams, it would be a step in the right direction to not only curb our fairness obsession but also to prevent some of the horrible side effects associated with them.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2018 06:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).