Why My Armpit Become Dark?
Dark armpit trouble most of people
Armpit or underarm is the area underneath your upper arm, where it connects to the shoulder and it is medically called axilla. In our Asian culture, armpit is most commonly related with poor hygiene due the smelly, stinky odor it produced after sweaty physical activities. Some people with strong body odor find this situation as disturbing, annoying and eventually reducing one’s self-esteem, confidence and pride. Besides the smelly odor, another familiar issue related to armpit is how it becomes dark in color even though it is located under the shoulder, unexposed to direct sunlight and most of the time being covered by clothes, on daily basis under humid and sunny Malaysian weather.
Due to its folded skin area, dark or discolored armpit is also scientifically mentioned as Acanthosis nigricans. There are several important factors contributing to armpit darkening or discoloration, namely:
1. Deodorant or antiperspirant use
-In order to prevent smelly armpits, adults usually apply or spray some deodorant on the armpit skin, daily. The deodorant is very helpful in keeping the odor away. However, some of these products contain active ingredients or chemicals that can cause irritations and pigmentations to the sensitive underarm skin. Yieldingly, the affected areas darken in no time.
2. Shaving and waxing
The growing hair at underarms is very beneficial to protect the skin from skin-to-skin irritation during any arm motion. But when it grows longer, people often remove it by shaving or waxing to make the area clean and smooth. Razors or any bladed tools are commonly used. However, harsh shaving does not only remove hair, but it also vanishes top skin layer, thus leading to skin darkening. Additionally, shaving can also promote the ingrown hair which later causes skin to darken as well.
3. Friction due to tight clothing
Tight clothing is considered a factor to darkened armpit because of the excessive amount of cloth-to-skin rubbing in which can cause irritation and inflammation to the armpit skin.
4. Hormonal disorders
Patients who have hormonal disorders like PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) or hypothyroidism can get darker armpit due to increase in the level of testosterone and thyroxine.
5. Dead skin accumulation
Underarm area is usually folded and hidden area. It also can accumulate a lot of dead skin cells, sweats, dirt, impurities and some materials from the cloth. These combo results in darker skin tone of armpit.
6. Obesity
Obese people frequently suffer more skin-to-skin frictions because their arm and the whole body is much larger in size as compared to non-obese people. The excessive number of rubbings on daily basis yielded more skin irritations, which then eventually darken the skin.
7. Poor hygiene
Undoubtedly, insufficient hygiene routines may stimulate the buildup of dead skin cells, sweat and bacteria at the folded skin area like armpit. In normal practice in Malaysia, under humid and sunny weather, people shower 2-3 times a day and use body care products accordingly to clean their body from dirt or bacteria. But people who practice less hygienic lifestyle will have unclean skin, thus creating a darker skin tone over a short period of time.
Truthfully, there are multiple other causes of dark armpits that are not discussed here. For example; genetics, infections, allergic reactions, melasma, hyperpigmentation, pharmaceutical drugs, insulin resistant etc. It is a relief to discover that dark armpits rooted to different causes are treatable respectively. Nevertheless, one should seek professional help and guidance from the right skin expert before starting any move. At Zeyls Clinic, our LCP- certified skin specialist, Datin Dr. Suhaila Sujani will usher you to the right direction towards lighter armpits as per dreamt.
