Brief Answer:
It is better to go for chemical peels.

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to healthcaremagic

I am Dr. Kakkar. I have gone through your query and I have understood it.

Pigmentation on cheeks in females OR Melasma, is idiopathic, most of the times. However there are well known causes like pregnancy, oral contraceptive pills, certain pain killers.

Sun protection is an essential part of the management of any pigmentation over face.Therefore, a good sunscreen should have broad spectrum UV A coverage in addition to UV B coverage, in order to be able to prevent tanning and it needs to be applied in sufficient quantity and every 2-3 hourly.

I don't see sunscreen in your treatment. A sunscreen with minimum 30 SPF would be adequate. It should mention both UV B and UV A coverage. Therefore it is important to select the right sunscreen for desired effects

It should be applied in the following quantity:
--3ml for face and neck(a little more than 1/2 teaspoon)
--3ml for each arm(a little more than 1/2 teaspoon).

A sunscreen should be applied every 2-3 hours.

And about the peels, I understand you have found improvements with ointment. But I found wonderful results with peels after patients when through topical ointments. If needed, you should go for it.

Chemical peels are very useful for Pigmentation over face. They can be used either alone OR in combination with skin lightening creams.

Various ingredients which are present in chemical peel solutions are:
-Glycolic acid 20%, 35% , 50%
-Kojic acid 10%
-Phenol
-Retinol 4%
-Trichloroacetic acid 10%, 20% 30%etc

They are usually present in various concentrations in peel solutions. Usually the patient needs to undergo a series of sessions of chemical peeling, approximately every 2-3 weeks. The results are usually good and can be maintained with creams OR maintenance chemical peeling once in month or so.

Hope this helped

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