Tranexamic Acid for Skin: Anti-Hyperpigmentation Tool You’ve Never Heard Of

Though tranexamic acid may not be the most popular skincare ingredient, its benefits are astonishing. It tackles everything from melasma to acne with almost no side effects, making it a potential new favorite in your skincare routine. So, we’re here to give this underrated ingredient the attention it deserves.

What Is Tranexamic Acid?

What if we told you there’s a skincare ingredient that effectively fights hyperpigmentation, causes practically no side effects, and is suitable for all skin types? Sounds like a bare-face advertisement, right? In fact, it’s not. Moreover, brightening the skin isn’t its only benefit. But first things first.

Originally, tranexamic acid was used as a medication to stop heavy bleeding. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it for conditions such as menstrual bleeding and tooth extractions in patients with hemophilia.

Its skincare benefits were discovered by accident. More than 55 years ago, Dr. Nijo Sadako used tranexamic acid to treat a patient with hives. The patient also had melasma, and within a couple of weeks, melasma symptoms significantly improved. That unexpected effect paved the way for the ingredient’s oral use against hyperpigmentation.

With time, manufacturers started to add tranexamic acid to skincare products for topical use. And this has a scientific background as well.

Benefits of Tranexamic Acid for Skin

The first one is obvious:

Tranexamic acid can fight melasma,

a skin condition when some areas of skin are darker than a person’s normal complexion. And several studies have proved this fact.

In one of them, 50 female patients applied a 3% tranexamic acid solution to one side of their face and a 3% hydroquinone + 0.01% dexamethasone to the other. Both treatments improved epidermal melasma without any significant differences. However, there was one important thing in favor of tranexamic acid—it caused fewer side effects than the other treatment.

Another study also showed the effectiveness of tranexamic acid against melasma. As part of it, scientists compared a 5% TA solution with a 3% hydroquinone solution. Both treatments performed well. But yet again, the TA group was more satisfied due to fewer side effects.

It makes the skin barrier stronger (and thus helps with rosacea).

If we imagine rosacea as a bottle of scotch, it would definitely be a blended one. The thing is, there’s no single cause of rosacea. It’s influenced by a mix of genetics, skin type, and environmental triggers. Factors like sun exposure, alcohol, temperature changes, and more can all trigger or worsen symptoms. All these cause excessive blood flow to the skin, leading to flushing, inflammation, and skin sensitivity. Over time, the damage weakens the skin’s barrier, making it more prone to irritation and dryness.

In 2016, scientists discovered that improving the skin barrier can greatly reduce rosacea symptoms. It strengthens the outer layer of the skin, controls immune responses, and reduces angiogenesis (the process of forming new blood vessels).

As a matter of fact, since rosacea and acne share some similar causes, tranexamic acid might help treat acne as well.

Tranexamic acid helps repair photodamaged skin.

One experiment conducted a couple of years ago showed that tranexamic acid can also be helpful in treating dark spots and reducing discoloration caused by the sun.

Scientists tested a facial serum with cetyl tranexamate mesylate in its formula, which is basically a derivative of tranexamic acid. Participants applied the serum twice a day for two months. By the end of the study, dark spots and redness had significantly improved. Most people noticed positive changes in just two weeks. 

Guess what? No serious side effects were recorded. However, just because a product contains tranexamic acid doesn’t mean it’s 100% safe. There may be other ingredients in it. To see if they’re safe for your skin type and issues, you can use the OnSkin app. Just take a picture of the product or its barcode, and OnSkin will do the rest.

It’s effective against post-acne erythema.

Post-acne erythema is a red mark that can appear on the place where a pimple used to be. It usually fades away on its own after some time but can still bring discomfort to some people. 

One option to deal with it is topical application of skincare products. Creams and gels which contain tranexamic acid are effective in reducing post-acne erythema lesions and bring no serious side effects.

Is Tranexamic Acid Really That Safe?

Actually, that’s true. As you can see, the experiments and studies described above showed practically no serious negative effects when the ingredient was applied topically. 

So, tranexamic acid is considered safe in skincare products. However, when scientists used high concentrations of the ingredient during the experiments, a few mild side effects were observed, which could also be triggered by individual reactions. These include irritation, dryness, redness, and scaling. The last two symptoms, by the way, were easily treated with a moisturizing cream.

Anyway, the best advice is to consult your dermatologist before starting to apply the product. They will give you the most up-to-date information on how tranexamic acid may help with your specific skin issues.

How to Apply Tranexamic Acid

You can find tranexamic acid in a wide range of skincare products, including masks, moisturizers, serums, creams, and more. Active ingredients are always more effective when used in leave-in products, which makes creams and serums especially beneficial.

Depending on the type of product, it’s best to follow the instructions on the label. These should include details on the recommended amount, application frequency, and how to incorporate it into your skincare routine for the best results. 
And as you already know, not all ingredients in the product’s formula are equally safe or beneficial. So, checking the product with OnSkin won’t hurt:)