Acne During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a time of great excitement and many changes as well. In addition to the big changes to a woman's body, there are changes to the family life, the way the home is laid out and even to diet needs during the pregnancy and preparation for the needs for the baby when it arrives. While all of this is very exciting, this much change can be quite stressful on a new mom. So when acne is added to the list of new things to cope with, it is best to be prepared so it doesn’t cause undue concern and perhaps more stress than is called for.
It is important that just as the family of a new mom is sensitive to the emotional issues that pregnancy bring, the arrival of acne can be as much an emotional problem as it is a medical one. This is especially true if the new mom never suffered with acne before so the sudden appearance of skin blemishes only add to a feeling of loosing that girlish appeal because of the bodily changes that come with pregnancy. As a husband of the new mom, its up to you to be knowledgeable about this particular twist to the cycle of pregnancy and to assure your wife that not only is the pregnancy acne not a cause for panic, it will pass quickly and not become a long term skin problem.
The root of the reason that acne makes an appearance during pregnancy is that acne is the result of hormonal changes that get into the bloodstream. This is why teenagers are the biggest population of acne sufferers. After all, who has more hormones surging through their blood than teenagers? Well, similarly pregnancy causes a lot of hormonal changes especially in the first trimester and the result can be a bout of acne.
Treatment of the problem is somewhat similar to how you would treat acne in any other circumstance. However, the use of any medications that is not topical must be done with extreme care. Many oral medications that are perfectly fine for teenagers or other acne sufferers to take must be avoided during pregnancy so you don’t introduce complications during these important months of the development of your child. So if you wish to take an oral acne medication, be sure you check with your pediatrician first to make sure it is absolutely safe. And the wise route is to stick with strictly topical treatments.
While topical treatments and many home remedies can do wonders, there is nothing like good old good diet and hygiene to reduce the impact of acne. And by being aware that not only will the acne clear up after the first trimester, in many cases a woman's skin develops a phenomenal beauty in the later months, that prospect may be all a new mom may need to endure the few weeks that the problem is around because as it true of many of the problems of pregnancy, this too will pass.