Hi guys, new here. I have always prowled this site but never went on to create a user. Well anyway...

I have been using an at-home LED Light Therapy hand-held machine for acne and perioral dermatitis. It's been only about a week but my skin has responded quite well so far. However, the post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation marks that were left from my perioral dermatitis (had it since I was 11) seems to have gotten DARKER! It's in the form of a 'goatee' although I have no hair in that area. I'm not sure if I'm overdoing it or it's a side effect.

I use green in the morning to brighten (it's said to help with hyperpigmentation), blue in the evening for acne, and red/infrared afterwards for general fine lines, collagen increase, etc. I have lightly tanned Asian skin. I start off doing Pulse mode for 3 sections of my face. Now when I do Constant mode, I usually hold the machine over trouble spots. So in this case, I have been holding it over my hyperpigmented areas for at least 3 minutes. Perhaps that is causing it to get darker or is it generally, I should refrain from using LED Light Therapy on my hyperpigmented areas?

I am also suspecting it's the microdermabrasion crystals (aluminum oxide) that I've been putting in my 'every-2-3-days' scrubs to exfoliate. I have excessively dry, flaky skin around my mouth.

Thanks to anyone who can help!