Skin Care During Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a wonderful, but at the same time difficult time for the whole organism. Including for the skin. But many problems can be prevented if you know about them in advance.
Skin pigmentation
The complexion during pregnancy may vary. Sometimes they even talk about the mask of pregnant women – light brown age spots that appear on the forehead or cheeks. Sometimes future mothers note that they are much lighter than before they blush, they are covered with a slight blush in the ears, eyelids, cheeks. This is completely harmless, age spots go away by themselves after childbirth, and the ability to blush with or without it will gradually disappear.
Increased pigmentation throughout the body is often noted. In the body of a pregnant woman, more estrogen and progesterone are produced, and against this hormonal background, nipples, age spots and moles may darken somewhat. During this period, it is advisable to avoid open sunlight and ultraviolet radiation – do not go outside without sunscreen and a reliable headgear.
Do not try to correct the situation with peeling and whitening procedures – during pregnancy, the skin becomes very sensitive, and aggressive actions can affect it not in the best way.
Rashes on the skin
Sometimes pregnancy presents not the most pleasant surprises in the form of a variety of skin rashes. It can be:
Acne
Appears against a background of altered hormonal background. Do not try to cleanse the skin yourself using deep cleansing, steaming, etc. During pregnancy, it is better to use gentle oils that gently cleanse the skin. Your body now needs an increased amount of vitamins A and E
Skin rash
This unpleasant phenomenon is often accompanied by redness and itching. Pay attention to underwear – it should be made of pure cotton. Try to ventilate the skin more often so that it can breathe freely. You can lubricate the rash with diluted lemon juice – this also helps to cope with the rash.
Itching (more often it appears in the sacrum, but sometimes occurs throughout the body) will help vitamins A and D. Add olive oil to the diet, do not forget about carrots, yolk, fatty varieties of sea fish, orange vegetables and fruits, sprouted wheat and nuts. Castor oil can be applied to itchy places.
Stretch marks on the skin
This is a separate problem that worries expectant mothers. Unfortunately, the tendency to stretch in most women is genetic. So ask your mother – if she had such a problem during pregnancy, you will need to pay special attention to the skin of the chest, thighs and abdomen.
Stretch marks (they are also “pregnancy strips”, they are also striae) appear as a result of a change in the hormonal background. The skin lacks protein and elastin, so it begins to thin out (especially in those places where it stretches the most). The intradermal breaks the body seeks to “close up” as soon as possible, increasing the connective tissue (similar to how a wound heals after an injury). First, the connective tissue has a pink or purple hue, then the number of blood vessels in it decreases, and it becomes whitish, and even when tanning does not change its color.
How to prevent stretch marks
Eat right.
Not keen on sweets and pastries. This, on the one hand, will help not to gain excess weight, on the other hand, it will have a beneficial effect on the skin. As we found out, the skin especially needs proteins (from which collagen and elastin are synthesized), as well as vegetables (a source of vitamins, carotenoids and other useful substances). Speaking of vitamins. Pay attention to vitamin E. It is believed that it protects cell membranes from oxidative destruction. If you take complex vitamins for pregnant women, then it is part of almost all complexes. But, perhaps, you need additional sources of vitamin E. It is especially abundant in cereal products, seedlings (wheat, rye, peas), in vegetables – tomatoes, lettuce, peas, spinach, parsley, rose hips. An excellent source of vitamin E is unrefined vegetable oils: sunflower, soybean, cottonseed, peanut, corn, sea buckthorn.
Work outside.
Vitamin E will also help with external use – it (along with other fat-soluble vitamins) is part of most special “stretch marks” (gels, creams, oils). They can be used starting from the third month of pregnancy, while the skin has not yet stretched very much. Lubricate the “risk zone” before bedtime – this will help to activate the activity of fibroblasts – cells that produce collagen and elastin.
External support.
Wear a specially selected antenatal bandage. It will help reduce the load on the spine, abdominal muscles. But still try not to abuse it, the muscles should work themselves. If you are at home, then wear it for about 2 hours with a two-hour break so that the abdominal muscles work independently.
The more elastic your skin will be, the easier it is to deal with stretch marks. And skin elasticity can be improved by the following methods:
Cold and hot shower.
It perfectly improves blood circulation and makes the skin more elastic. Here’s how to carry out this procedure. At the beginning, the water should be at a comfortable temperature. After that, turn on the hot water as much as possible (but if you have never taken a contrast shower before, try to soften the temperature contrast first, alternate between room and cold water). After 30 seconds, we block the hot water and open the cold water – for 20-30 seconds. Then – again hot. So it should be repeated 3-5 times. We finish the procedure with cold dousing. An important point – a contrast shower should not be used if you have a threat of abortion!
A simple and effective remedy is massage, especially in combination with creams for stretch marks.
Try, for example, pinch massage, in which the skin is easily compressed and stretched. Perform massage in “risk areas” for 10 minutes. By the way, this is an excellent prevention of cellulite. For massage, you can also use not very stiff brushes or mittens made of horsehair (dry or wet, during a bath or shower). Massage the skin in small circles, trying not to put too much pressure on it. Massage is always carried out from the periphery to the center – from the limbs to the heart. If you use a finger massager, do not forget to lubricate the skin with a special cream or gel.
Skin problems during pregnancy are not fatal, but they make you pay serious attention to your diet and lifestyle. Listen to the signals of your body!