Pregnancy brings joy in a woman’s life but at the same time she experiences many changes in her body, both at physical and mental level. Skin changes during pregnancy are common among other body changes observed in a pregnant woman.
She may experience various types of skin changes, few changes are noticed soon after getting conceived such as change in color of nipple and areola, glow on facial skin, chloasma, rash and pimples, reddish streak on stomach, stretch marks etc.
Skin Pigment Changes During Pregnancy
Following are the skin changes observed during pregnancy:
- Glow over face: the face becomes more shiny and glowing as there is increased blood circulation during pregnancy.
- Chloasma: during the second trimester there may appear brown or light yellowish pigments on the face, usually on the cheeks and bridge of the nose, chin or the on whole face. They are known as chloasma. It cannot be prevented, but the intensity can be reduced by less exposure to sun. Usually chloasma due to pregnancy disappears after delivery, but persists in some cases particularly after abortion or miscarriage.
- Skin rash: it is frequently observed symptom during pregnancy. Skin rash or heat rash or prickly heat as it is commonly referred to, is due to excessive perspiration.Due to hormonal shift, a woman feels more heat and perspires more than usual. Increased weight causes friction in skin creases such as in armpits, neck, and thigh, below the breast and bulging abdomen. Tight fitting clothes can also aggravate skin friction causing red rashes in those areas. There may be itching together with skin rash.
Changes In Pimples And Moles During Pregnancy
- Pimples: they appear as a result of hormonal changes in a pregnant woman. Extra secretion of hormones increases oil gland production leading to acne and pimple breakouts. In case the woman is already having pimples, they may get exaggerated during pregnancy. Pimples and acne during pregnancy usually subside after pregnancy and no more treatment may be necessary. Do not use scrubs and exfoliants as the skin is tender during that period. Instead use oatmeal based milder homemade scrub for pimples.
- Already present moles get darker during pregnancy. This is also due to excessive hormone production in pregnancy. New mole and freckles can develop during pregnancy. The areola, nipple and labia also become darker than they usually are. The moles remain dark even after delivery. Even once the areola and nipple do not come back to their original color and remain permanently darker after pregnancy.
Besides this several other skin changes in pregnancy are: linea niagra; a dark line running from the belly button to the pubic bone. Herpes gestationis; it is a type of herpetic eruption occurring during pregnancy.