Germaine Pie Is Puzzled By Her Pits: What causes darkened armpits and what can we do to get rid of them? They’re so embarrassing!
The Right Brain Raises Her From the Pit of Despair:
It’s not surprising that so many people have this problem – there are at least FIVE different reasons your pits could be darker than they should be.
Cause #1: Shaving.
When you shave you cut the hairs off at, or just below, the surface of the skin. If your hairs are slightly darker than your skin color, they can give the appearance that your skin has a dark stain when it`s really just sub-surface hair.
What To Do About It: Stop shaving and try waxing or plucking instead so you get rid of the hair below the skin surface. Since the hairs aren’t lurking so close to the top of your skin, they won’t be as visible.
Cause #2: Buildup of dead skin cells.
According to at least one dermatolgist, dark spots under your arms are the result of dead skin cells that are trapped in microscopic “hills and valleys” on your skin.
What To Do About It: Exfoliate, preferably with a product containing lactic acid.
Cause #3: Antiperspirant and deodorant usage.
In theory, some ingredients in these products (perhaps the fragrance) could be reacting with the skin to cause discoloration. Practically speaking this seems unlikely but many people do claim that when they stop using APDs, the darkness goes away.
What To Do About It: Try switching brands or using a deodorant instead of an antiperspirant. You may stink a bit more, but hey, the Left Brain lives for experiments like that!
Cause #4: A medical condition called acanthosis nigricans.
This condition causes light-brown-to-black markings on the neck, under the arms, or in the groin. It can be related to insulin production or to a glandular disorder and it typically occurs in people who are overweight.
What To Do About It: Watch your diet to control insulin production and use Retin-A, 20% urea, alpha hydroxyacids, and salicylic acid prescriptions to lighten your armpits.
Cause #5: Hyper-pigmentation.
This condition causes your skin to produce excess melanin pigment. It doesn`t usually affect armpits, so it’s a less likely cause.
What To Do About It: Use a skin bleaching cream to destroy the excess melanin. The Beauty Brains don’t recommend this unless you consult a dermatologist first. You can also try laser treatment to destroy the pigment.
{ 97 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Next Comments →
I was using Dove deoderant and I had no dark armpits. I switched to Secret and the dark pits came back.
I would recomend trying Dove deoderant.
omg this is really embarrassing , i have all this type of problems that you guys are saying and i wish i could wear all that pretty clothes and not to be afraid from who might be looking at my skin i hate it with a passion .it all started when i was 11 and since i still have it .and is not that i haven’t tried out the baking soda thing but it doesn’t work and yes people i do take a very good shower . it might be really all my fault i need to loose some weight .
hi i am 14 years old.my underarms are really black.in my class my skin is fairer than others.everybody loves my skin color.but i am not.for my white skin the armpits look even gross.i have tried things but no use….please help me with suggestions.
hi im 15 bout to be 16 this tear and i have dark spots under my armpits i had it since i was like 13 and i have no idea how to get rid of it i thought it was because i was black but i guess iam not the only one help pleaze
I know of a few friends of mine that have this issue. I actually recommended that they try all natural deodorants like Tom’s. They noticed that over a few months time their under arms were not as discolored. I also did advise to stop shaving, as they might be allergic to aluminum as it is also an ingredient in most antiperspirants that are available in the market today. Waxing and laser hair removal is a great alternative. However, if none of these methods work I strongly urge you to get an allergy test done, it could very well help you out.
It may be something called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, not due to sun exposure [after all, it's your armpit] but to irritation from friction, shaving, and deodorants [not necessarily an allergy but ingredients in skin products can be irritating]. Please everyone–don’t let this ruin your day. No one is staring, I promise! And clearly, you aren’t the only one. I have dark pits, but I wear sleeveless tops or bathing suits whenever I feel like it and don’t think twice. None of us is perfect. But if it bothers you, I’d see a doctor for advice. If you’re a teen, ask a parent if you can talk to your pediatrician about it. Hey, it’s better than getting internet advice from me or someone else you’ve never met!
well im 17 years old i have had dark armpits since i was 13.i hate it i wish there was some thing to make them go away i have treid whiting cream,lemon,clorax,bleach,and change my deorenet nothing work im curently in the swim team and im going to try out for cheer and these armpits aren’t working for me!!! I need help i can’t keep living like this at swim no one has dark armpits it get on my nerves i have it i need help please some one help me!!!
i have terrible bumps under my chin what do i do to get rid of it
I really need to see a doctor regarding my health condition which could be the cause of my dark armpits and neck. I have PCOS and I’m overweight, too. It scares me to think what more I can get other than dark underarms and neck if I won’t be careful with my health in the long run. Sarah’s comment in March 8 helped decide to consult a doctor soon.
Hi
I have had dark armpits since i started my period which was wen i was 12.
I have tryed many things and only recently started laser hair reduction treatment and may i say its the best thing ever for the dark skinned areas to disapear and be smooth.
i had load inbetween my thighs and my private area and may i say now that i am hair free and even toned all over my body now. no spots or scars or bumps from shaving. just clear smooth skin.
i hope this helps
hi everyone i never had black armpit untill i got pregnant . I though it will be temporal but i have my neck , armpits and iner legs as dark as it can be !!! i hateeeee this, now its been a month since i gave birth and nothing has change im going crazy everyone points it out to me i mean EVERYONE !!! any solution for me ???????
kaye how much does this treatment cost you????
hey i need you help my armpits are very dark and i don’t know who to get rid of them i hate to wear short slive shirts and i really need your help and i to embarest to tell a doctor
Dear all:
I had dark underarms. -Didn’t know why.
I was recently diagnosed with Diabetes and now that I have been on medication for 3 mos, the darkness under my arms went away!
DIABETES WAS THE CAUSE. Not in every case, but this IS one symptom of Diabetes.
Please, please, if you have dark underarms, go to your doctor for a blood test. I am 49 years old and generally very healthy. OK, I have to loose 40 lbs, but I’m healthy otherwise. No one in my family has Diabetes!
I had NO other symptoms except the curiously dark arm pits, and I had this for years.
Diabetes left untreated can cause blindness, kidney failure, limb amputation and more. It is a silent killer. Please do not delay if you see dark arm pits. Get to your Dr. for a simple blood test and keep your health.
where can you find baking soda?
blahh! so my prob started about 2 yrs ago and i never thought it was that big of a deal untill my sister pointed it out!! geezes that was embarassing Lol so i started asking about iit and i gott so manny diff answers. iit really juss depends on yoor skiin type. ive used lime, its helped alott since its an acid. yoo could use baking soda wiith sum liime, leave iit on for about 5 min then of course yoor gunna have to riinse. yoo can try switchiing deoderants and not shaviing as frequently and if yoo do, buy the razors wiith more blades on em, that helped me. ohhh and last butt not least theres this brighteniing cream i bought off liine and its 10 bucks i believe. i found iit on youtube and its called extreme brightning. tryy iit ladies!! i feel more comfy wiith my self butt i still want my pitss as clear as a babyys bumm :]]
Hi! im 13 Years old. I have a question. I went to docter and she said that is the reason why i have this black stuff on my neck ad arms is becuase im diabetic. But here is the thing im overweight to. So if i lose this weight an watch what i eat will this go away?
Consider trying this. I love watching her videos on natural concoctions you can make at home.
http://www.youtube.com/user/AllNatural28#p/u/16/f9phKlRLGrY
I would like to suggest peanut butter cream/lotion which is available in most of the pharmacy to get rid of strech marks…and it really work…but of course it will not effect immediately, u can see the changes in between 1-2 month….it depends on how severe is your strech marks…good luck.
Hey ladies,
I’m 26 yrs old and have had dark underarms for as long as i can remember. Recently i had given it thought and think it could possibly be due to fungus. Yup! fungal infection! im keeping track of any progress on my blog http://dmaterialgirl.blogspot.com/ so feel free to check it out. hugs to all dark pitted ladies. I feel u.
Hi im 20 and within the last 6 months my armpits have gotten dark. I dont,kno wat to do? does lemons and baking sosa really work ? and also wat kins of deo is best to use?
I too have the darkest armpits I’ve ever seen on a person….seriously. I have not worn a tank top or short sleeve shirt because of this problem that we all have. Because its nearly summer here and it gets terribly hot could anyone share anything at all to get rid of my shameful armpits that my husband pointed out to me….
hi, i m diya please suggest some home remedies for clean armpits and how to recover from a dark armpits……………
Hi, i av dis same under arm dark spot problem,i tink i will try d bakin soda so see hw it works…thanks
I 14yrs.My skin color is fair but my armpits are dark can u give me a easy tips to remove it
hi! i’m mary and i am really scared about the diabities thing. I have all the problems mension on the comments. plzz help
Darkened skin is called acanthosis nigricans, I have been plagued with it since puberty. Its a side effect of PCOS and insulin resistance. They say wt. Loss helps however I have lost 40 lbs and still have black armpits. I have tried dr. Recommended skin acids with no help. I do like hydroquonine if that’s how you spell it. It lightens it some, but doesn’t cure it. Its sold at walmart as a skin bleach. I would love to get my hands on Michael Jacksons skin bleach for his vitaligo, we all know that made him whiter. I have even had a doctor want to try a laser on it the same one they use for tatoo removal, but the treatments were costly and he couldn’t guuarentee any success.
As for the neck darkening I can still control that with noxema pads because the skin there isn’t rippled like my underarms and the smoother surfaces can still come clean.
I have suffered from black armpits too. I also have tons of allergies so all the medicines, creams and deodarants weren’t working for me, they’d make it worse. I found calendula gel/cream to work extremely well! It has some excellent healing properties. I also started using a non-fragrance, natural stone I got from the health food store. All the money spent on dermatologists and medicines and all I needed was a $10 solution.
Hi , I have dark underarms since i was 9 ? That was the time when I just noticed it , What can do to rid of it ? And I’m to afraid to wear sleeveless clothing D:
Just noticed that the deoderant I was using had caused darker armpits to appear. I’m really bummed, because I liked it a lot.
After having kids and gain some weight I got this darkness on my armpit and I don’t have much money to spend and I don’t know what to do or try please help me this sucks to have !!
Hey guys! I had the same problems for years so I was desperate until I found a solution!!! In my country everyone suffer from the same problem so I start asking what can I do, do they told me to get milk of magnesia and apply it everyday…well I started doing that and problem solved!!! It’s under 5 bucks and trust me, it works! I’m from Colombia and outside beauty and health it’s very important so good luck everyone!!
Ladies!
Please check with your doctor. The darkness could be a sign that you have insulin restistance. You may not be a full blown diabetic, but could be on your way of having diabetes. Check with an Endocrinologist. Before doing this, do the steps above, if they don’t work, then check with your doctor.
If you are darken because of Insulin Resistance . . . I do not know if it gets better. I have been told it might get better but never go away. I am still looking for things to work …… but getting your insulin working right in your body is the first step!
My problem is dots…black dots in my arm pits, a closer look at them and they look like stopped up pores, I squeezed a few of them and the black comes away with a tiny hair in it…..but I can’t squeeze a million and one tiny black dots and the position is awkward….so what will work for me..I’m gonna try waxing, expholiating and the baking soda and lemon
I have had dark armpits forever, frankly I think the cause was poor hygiene. In the shower I never really paid to much attention to my pits , as I got older I realized that I did this. So now that I’m older I wash them, exfoliate them EVERY time I shower EVERY day, I use a crystal stone deodorant, don’t shave I epilate, my armpits aren’t perfect, but they’re well on their way, and have lightened multitudes…
I have really really sensitive skin.. and im scared to risk getting rashes and what not. I really want to try the baking soda. If there is anyrhing else to help with really sensitive skin under the arm pits.. please let me know. Please an thank yu.
Is the bakeing soda suposed to burn?.
ok so how embarrassing is it that you cnt raise your arms at ur best friends swim party because that guy u like is ther and half the school and i just recently got them too. if there are any suggestions on a good razor or cream whatever anything that works PLEASE HELP. there is an 8th grader in a crisis!!!!!!!!!
I got black underarms from spraying my dads cologne on my pits when I was 8 and boy was that stupid. I still have dark under arms and now I’m 19. Still, I want to be free~ has anyone found a good solution?
I tried lemons , alum powder, whitening cream…
U do get dark underarms by wearing very tight clothes too.. I mean those which rub your underarms..
I have black armpitts … Its just imbarrasing … I don’t wear tank top, short sleves… Im afraid that one day people would say something to me like “Eww” You prabably have the same feelings what im saying.
I began growing armpit hairs when I was close to eleven years old. I never paid attention to it and never really bothered to shave much. Until last year, that is. I was invited to a pool party, so I shaved thinking that I would look just fine. But after I finished, I saw these dark, slightly green blotches on the center of my pits. I’ve been told that it’s hardly noticable unless I am close to someone, but I still want to get rid of it.
Am 12.Am not overweight or skin am slim will it work
am dark in complexion wit a very dark under arm pit, its so embarrassin cnt put on cloths wit out sleeves
I also have this problem. It’s extremely embarrassing and frustrating because nothing seems to work. I bought the Dermadoctor antiperspirant and it did not work for me. At all. And I used it for almost a year. I eventually stopped because it was so expensive ($28) and I didn’t get the results I had hoped for. I went to the dermatologist and was prescribed Retin-A cream. Some days I see a difference, and other days they just look darker, but I will continue to try it..
My aunt had this problem too and she actually used hydrogen peroxide. She rubbed it on her armpit with a cotton ball before she went to bed and washed it off the next morning. She saw results in about two weeks!
I’m 15 years old and have had this under arm problem from about 2 years now, noticing it first in my under arms and then around my neck. But then I noticed it showing up on my inner thighs and private area. I’m not very tan and the shade difference is very noticable so I hate wearing sleeveless shirts or shorts risking having my dark under areas noticed. So thus in the article above talking about that skin condition “Acanthosis Nigracans” it makes me think that I might have it too. As it mentions the dark areas occuring in the under arms, around the neck and in the groin area (all where I have it) it could be warning me :/ I’ll need some answers soon.
← Previous Comments
{ 4 trackbacks }