Five Tips Every Expectant Mother Needs to Know
Many expectant mothers seek acne treatment during pregnancy. For a lucky few women, acne symptoms actually improve during pregnancy, but most women find their acne symptoms get worse. That is because the corpus luteum produces large quantities of the hormone progesterone in the uterus, and progesterone also increases sebum secretion in the skin. Some women develop post-gestational acne, skin blemishes appearing for the first time after delivering birth. Post-gestational acne is also due to fluctuating hormones.
Conventional medical acne treatment during pregnancy suffers some serious limitations. The two most potent anti-acne drugs, Accutane and Retin-A, can’t be used by pregnant women. That is because, especially during the first trimester, use of these concentrated artificial analogs of vitamin A can cause birth defects or miscarriage. The risk to an unborn child is so severe that all US doctors are required to prescribe not just one but two methods of birth control to any woman of childbearing age who uses these drugs.
Acne treatment during pregnancy with Accutane or Retin-A is just not possible-but kinder, gentler methods of treating acne still work, and sometimes work even better than the harshest prescription drugs. Here is are 5 tips for acne treatment during pregnancy every expectant mother needs to know.
Powerful Holistic Approach to Cure Your Acne. Click Here to Learn More!
- Stay hydrated. Even when pregnancy makes going to the bathroom difficult, it is still important to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. The changes in the skin caused by pregnancy primarily involved increased production of skin oils, rather than thickening of the skin. Sometimes just keeping the skin hydrated so it is supple and flexible, allowing the oil to escape, is enough to keep acne in check.
- Exfoliate. Exfoliation is a gentle process of removing dead skin cells that might trap oil inside pores. Most experts recommend that pregnant women exfoliate with azelaic acid, a naturally occurring acid that is found in whole grains. Azelaic acid keeps pores open, which is exactly what is needed during pregnancy. It also stops infections of not just acne bacteria but also staph.
- Cleanse twice a day. Soap and water is enough to keep the skin clean when acne first appears during pregnancy, but there is a right way and a wrong way to wash your face. It’s important to make a lather of the soap that you apply to your face with your fingertips, rather rubbing bar soap over your pores. It’s also important to rinse your face with warm water, rather than hot or cold. Warm water keeps pores open but does not dry out the skin.
- Choose antibiotics with care. When pimples become obviously infected and inflamed, clindamycin and erythromycin ointments actually do work, although tetracycline should be avoided during pregnancy. A better approach, however, is to
- Control acne bacteria with herbal therapies. Tea tree oil is as effective as benzoyl peroxide and most antibiotics for killing acne bacteria, and it causes less inflammation, irritation, and itch (although it does not “get the red out” quite as quickly as benzoyl peroxide). If pimples hurt, try calendula washes and soaps. Calendula will also disinfect skin infected with staph, which creates “pimples” with a yellow center.
Powerful Holistic Approach to Cure Your Acne. Click Here to Learn More!
