Clinical efficacy of laser combined with menstrual regulation in the treatment of female melasma: a retrospective study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of using a Medlite C6 Q-switch Nd:YAG laser combined with menstrual regulation–based traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of female melasma. Forty cases of female patients with melasma, who were treated between December 2013 and December 2015 at the Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, were reviewed retrospectively. Twenty patients received Q-switch Nd:YAG 1064 nm laser treatments combined with menstrual regulation treatments (experimental group), and 20 patients were treated only with the laser (control group). All treatments lasted for 6 months. The patients’ faces were photographed before, immediately, and 6 months after treatment. The therapeutic efficacy was assessed by the reduction in the Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI) score and the total skin damage score, and this was then compared between the two groups. Immediately and 6 months after the treatment, both the MASI and total skin damage scores in the experimental group were significantly lower compared to those in the control group (P < 0.001). The experimental group had significantly higher basic recovery and effectiveness rates than the control group (P = 0.020 and P = 0.008, respectively) and had a significantly lower invalidity rate (P < 0.001). Results from Medlite C6 Q-switch Nd:YAG laser treatment combined with menstrual regulation are superior than those obtained using only a laser for the treatment of female melasma.