Skin During Pregnancy
During pregnancy, some women experience changes in their skin. On one hand, you may find that acne develops or worsens with pregnancy, and on the other, you may find that your acne improves during your pregnancy.
If you are experiencing acne breakouts during your pregnancy, rest assured that this is completely normal. Now, although it may be normal, it doesn’t make it any easier to confront your acne.
Acne develops as a result of changing hormones, similar to when you were younger in your teen years. Rises in hormones can give way to increased oil production, which causes bacteria to linger within the pores, thus producing acne.
Many prescription acne medications are no longer available to you now that you are pregnant, but many doctors agree that a small amount of over-the-counter benzoyl peroxide is ok to use. You should speak to your doctor first before beginning any treatment.
There are a few tricks you can try to improving your acne without the use of topical medication:
1) Cleanse your skin morning and night with a gentle anti-bacterial soap. I happen to really like Cetaphyl’s anti-bacterial cleansing bar. It is extremely gentle and won’t dry out your skin, yet it will help eliminate lingering bacteria that can infect your pores.
2) Eliminate or greatly reduce foods or beverages categorized as inflammatory. These would include coffee, tea, juices, tomatoes, citrus fruits, marinara sauce, alcohol.
3) Adopt an anti-inflammatory diet which should incorporate salmon (be sure to speak to your doctor about the amount of fish you can eat each week), dark leafy veggies, olives, berries, cantaloupe, olive oil, etc. You can also supplement the fatty-acid found in salmon with ground flax seed. This can be purchased at most vitamin stores and super markets and can easily be added to oatmeal, cereal, salads, etc. You and your doctor should discuss the right approach for your body and health.
Also drink plenty of water and be sure that you are going to the bathroom daily to eliminate waste. That is very important to help keep your skin clear. If you would like to email me with your specific problems we can get into more detail and talk about your current skin care routine, diet and more.
Your skin will improve, so don’t worry too much. I know it’s hard to look in the mirror and see acne, but there are ways to help improve acne during pregnancy. It’s just a matter of figuring out which methods will work best with your skin.
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About Valentina Chistova
Valentina Chistova is a world-renowned aesthetician and beauty expert whose experience encompasses all facets of skin care and body treatments. Internationally trained, educated and certified, Valentina has devoted more than twenty years to her profession.
Valentina is a member of the National Cosmetology Association and a CIDESCO candidate (Comite International Desthetique et de Cosmetologie Desthetique), which is the highest degree of beauty therapy certification available in the United States and worldwide. Most recently, Valentina completed a rigorous training program with the Spanish organization Wontersaf, one of the world’s leading centers for trichology, capillary diagnostics and scalp and hair treatment to combat hair loss and other hair dysfunctions. Valentina also holds a Registered Nursing Degree from Kharkov State University and Cosmetology degrees from the Kharkov Medical Institute in the Ukraine and the Capri Institute of Cosmetology in New Jersey.
Valentina is the owner and director of skin care for Aquamedica Salon and Day Spa in Long Branch NJ.