This may follow a drug eruption, or lichen planus, especially in skin phototypes IV, V, and VI, as was the case in this middle-aged East Indian man. There is a condition described as Ashy dermatosis, which is clinically indistinguishable from postinflammatory hyperpigmentation following lichen planus as shown here. Postinflammatory hyperpigmentation is a major problem in young females with skin phototypes IV and V.