Some patients for some procedures will require a 4 to 6 week period of skin conditioning with topical agents such as tretinoin and/or hydroquinone prior to the actual procedure. This is most often for patients with a tendency towards hyperpigmentation due to their ethnic background- African American, Eastern European, Asian, Hispanic and Native American skin types generally need to consider preconditioning their skin prior to some procedures to avoid hyperpigmentation during their recovery process.