Darkening of skin on face during pregnancy

Changes to your skin during pregnancy

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As your pregnancy develops, you may find that you experience changes to your skin and hair. Some women can develop dark patches on their face and hormonal changes can make your skin a little darker.

You may also develop stretch marks on your body, particularly around your stomach where your skin is stretching to accommodate your growing baby.

Chloasma - dark patches on the face

Some pregnant women develop dark irregular patches on their face most commonly on the upper cheek, nose, lips, and forehead. This is called 'chloasma'. It is also sometimes known as 'melasma' or the 'mask of pregnancy'.

Chloasma is thought to be due to stimulation of pigment-producing cells by female sex hormones so that they produce more melanin pigments (dark coloured pigments) when the skin is exposed to sun. Some women develop these patches when they take oral contraceptives (the pill).

Women with a light brown skin type who are living in regions with intense sun exposure are more likely to develop these patches. The patches usually fade over a period of several months after giving birth, though they may last for several years for some women.

Careful protection of the skin using broad spectrum sunscreens every day during pregnancy and while taking the pill may make it less likely that chloasma will develop. It is necessary to continue to use sunscreen after pregnancy as sun exposure may cause the patches to reappear. Some creams that need to be prescribed by doctors may help to fade the patches.

Skin and hair changes

Hormonal changes taking place in pregnancy will make your nipples and the area around them go darker. Your skin colour may also darken a little, either in patches or all over. Birthmarks, moles and freckles may also darken. Some women develop a dark line down the middle of their stomach, called 'linea nigra'. These changes will gradually fade after the baby is born, although your nipples may remain a little darker.

If you sunbathe while you are pregnant, you may burn more easily. Protect your skin with a good high-factor sunscreen and don't stay in the sun for a long time.

Hair growth can also increase in pregnancy, and your hair may be greasier. After the baby is born, it may seem as if you are losing a lot of hair but you are simply losing the extra hair.

Stretch marks

Many women develop stretch marks during their pregnancy, usually in the last 3 months.

They usually appear on your stomach or sometimes on your upper thighs or breasts. Stretch marks are not harmful and over time, your skin will shrink and the stretch marks will fade into white-coloured scars.

Find out more on stretch marks.

Sources:

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Last reviewed: January 2020

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Related pages

• Common discomforts during pregnancy
• Stretch marks

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Skin Darkening During Pregnancy: Dealing with Melasma

Are you pregnant and noticing dark spots on your face, arms, or legs?

Pregnancy comes with a lot of changes. But one of the most shocking can be your skin and freckles getting darker.

In this article, we’re going to discuss melasma (also known as “pregnancy mask”), one of the little-discussed symptoms of pregnancy. We’ll talk about why it happens, if it’s normal, and what we can do if it happens to us.

Table of Contents

• Is Skin Darkening During Pregnancy Normal?
• Causes of Melasma
• Can I Prevent Skin Darkening During Pregnancy?
• 9 Remedies That May Help
• Will It Go Away After Pregnancy?
• The Bottom Line

Is Skin Darkening During Pregnancy Normal?

Although it may not be one of the most talked-about pregnancy symptoms, skin darkening, known as melasma or chloasma, is entirely normal. It is sometimes referred to as “the mask of pregnancy” because it often appears on the face, especially the forehead, nose, and cheekbones ⁽¹⁾.

But while the face is the most common area for discoloration to occur, it can happen anywhere on the body. Skin darkening is also common in areas often exposed to the sun, like your arms and legs, as well as your underarms, where friction can easily occur ⁽²⁾.

Another common pregnancy symptom, the linea nigra, is thought to occur because of the same process.

Causes of Melasma

Just as estrogen causes hair growth during pregnancy, and progesterone can cause bloating, hormones are also the likely cause of skin darkening. But no one is entirely sure which hormone is the culprit.

Melanocytes are the skin cells responsible for pigment. Melanocyte-stimulating hormones increase during the second and third trimesters. Some experts believe that melasma it is caused by increased progesterone during pregnancy because it is fairly common in menopausal women who take progesterone supplements ⁽³⁾.

Others think it is the increased estrogen levels that increase the production of melanin ⁽⁴⁾.

Who Gets It

The one thing experts agree on is skin darkening in pregnancy is more common in women who already have increased skin pigmentation, including women of African, Asian, and Latin American descent ⁽⁵⁾.

Can I Prevent Skin Darkening During Pregnancy?

Unfortunately, you need the increased hormones that likely cause melasma to help your baby develop and grow. Estrogen, for example, helps your baby develop normally, while progesterone helps your uterus thicken and be a healthy environment for your baby .

Because these hormones are essential for your baby’s development, there is nothing we can do to entirely prevent skin darkening during pregnancy.

But while we can’t prevent melasma from happening, there are things we can do to stop it from getting worse.

1. Take Your Vitamins

Folic acid is an essential prenatal vitamin for pregnant women because it helps prevent neural tube defects. It can also help reduce your baby’s risk of cleft lip and palate and certain heart defects and can help reduce your risk of preeclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy).

While skin darkening is not nearly as important as your baby’s brain health, folic acid also has another little-known bonus use — it can help prevent hyperpigmentation.

2. Cover Up

While sun exposure can help you obtain a summer glow, it also has a nasty side effect of making already dark areas of your skin darker. If you already have patches of skin discolored by melasma, exposing them to the sun can make them worse.

To prevent this, keep your skin covered. Long sleeves, pants, and wide-brimmed hats can help keep the sun’s rays off your skin and prevent the melasma patches from getting darker.

3. SPF Is Your Friend

If you’re pregnant during the summer, long sleeves and pants might not be a viable option for covering your skin and preventing melasma from getting worse.

Dermatologists recommend wearing a broad-spectrum sunscreen daily as a part of your skincare routine to prevent skin cancer. It can also prevent chloasma from getting worse.

When choosing a sunscreen, avoid those with oxybenzone. Oxybenzone can cause low birth weight and problems with the baby’s hormone levels, which could lead to developmental problems.

An SPF sunscreen of 30 or more can block out 97 percent of the sun’s UVB rays ⁽⁶⁾. Apply it to your face every morning along with your other skincare products and to any area of your body that will be exposed to the sun. Take care to reapply every two hours while exposed.

Remember

Are you going to be working up a sweat or out in the sun throughout the day? Bring your sunscreen with you to reapply it every two hours.

4. Say No To Waxing

While hair growth is another common symptom of pregnancy, it doesn’t always occur in the areas we want it to. To not look like an extra in Planet of the Apes, many women seek ways to get rid of it.

But if your extra hair growth has you heading to the waxing salon, you might want to reconsider.

While waxing is safe for both mom and baby during pregnancy, it can also cause skin inflammation, which can make hyperpigmentation worse.

5. Choose Your Skin Care Wisely

While your favorite lotion might have a scent that reminds you of rainbows and butterflies, if you’re suffering from melasma during pregnancy, chemical-free and fragrance-free soaps and skincare products are the way to go. The fewer chemicals in your products, the less likely they are to react negatively to the sun on your skin. And since your skin is more sensitive during pregnancy, this will also help prevent other problems such as breakouts.

You may be tempted to try products with hydroquinone or retinol to lighten up those dark spots, but those are not safe during pregnancy. Using these products is safe only after pregnancy and after you are done breastfeeding ⁽⁷⁾.

9 Remedies That May Help

The best thing to do if you are suffering from melasma is to try to prevent it. But if you’re looking for a way to help get rid of hyperpigmentation that has already popped up on your skin, there are some remedies that may help.

Many of these remedies can be harsh on sensitive skin due to the acids they contain.

Before applying them to large areas, make sure to test them on a small section of skin first to ensure you won’t have a reaction.

1. Exfoliate: Exfoliating once a week can remove dead skin cells, which are often darker than the healthy skin cells underneath. It also may help increase the penetration of the other remedies you may try.
2. Potato: Cut a potato in half and rub the juice into melasma spots to help lighten the skin. Do this daily for the best results.
3. Aloe: Pure aloe vera gel, whether bottled or straight from the plant, can help lighten dark spots. Apply the gel directly to areas of hyperpigmentation, let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes, then gently wipe it off with warm water. For best results, repeat this process daily.
4. Yogurt: Yogurt contains lactic acid, which has bleaching properties that can help even out melasma spots. Apply plain Greek yogurt to your face like a mask, let it sit for 10 minutes, then rinse off gently with warm water.
5. Onion: Onions contain many sulfur compounds called sulfoxides, which can help lighten dark spots left by hyperpigmentation. To use this method, quarter an onion and place it in a blender. Once it’s blended, squeeze out the juice, and rub the juice directly onto clean skin. Allow the juice to dry for 15 minutes, and rinse off with warm water. Use daily for best results.
6. Apple cider vinegar: Apple cider vinegar contains acetic acid that can help lighten your skin. Dilute the ACV with an equal amount of water, and apply it directly to problem areas.
7. Milk, honey, and dried orange peel: Orange peels contain calcium and vitamin C and can help whiten dark spots on your skin. Process orange peels in a blender, then mix with milk and honey to form a paste. Use this as a mask to help lighten dark spots while also nourishing and pampering your skin.
8. Tomato and oatmeal: Tomato juice can help lighten areas of hyperpigmentation because it contains vitamin A, and oatmeal can help exfoliate and remove dead skin cells that are darker than the healthy skin underneath. Mix these two to form a paste, and apply it like a mask. Leave it on for 20 minutes, then rub it into your face to scrub. Rinse off with warm water. You can also add milk or yogurt to this mask to give it more nourishing properties.
9. Lemon: The citric acid in lemon juice has bleaching properties that can help make dark spots disappear. Cut a lemon in half, and rub the juice directly onto the affected area. Leave it on for 20 minutes for the best results.

Will It Go Away After Pregnancy?

Are you losing sleep at night wondering if these dark spots will remain on your skin forever? The good news is most women will see dark spots fade as their hormone levels go down after their baby is born.

Beware, though, because one in ten moms will find this condition worsens when taking hormonal contraceptives after giving birth ⁽⁸⁾. So, if you suffered melasma during pregnancy, talk to your doctor about what birth control will help you prevent this from occurring.

The Bottom Line

Hyperpigmentation is the last thing you want to deal with when pregnancy has already put things like nausea and heartburn on your plate. We get it!

While there is nothing we can do to stop skin darkening completely, with the tips and tricks listed in this article, you can help keep it to a minimum and help lighten any hyperpigmentation that has already occurred.

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Changes in the skin during pregnancy - St. Petersburg State Budgetary Institution of Healthcare "Dermatovenerological Dispensary No. 4"

During pregnancy, the female body is constantly changing.

What physiological skin changes occur during pregnancy?

During pregnancy, under the influence of hormones, the skin around the nipples, in the genital area becomes darker and a dark line (Linea nigra) appears in the middle of the abdomen.

During the period of intrauterine development of the fetus, due to the tension of the skin, lilac and pink stripes (lines), the so-called striae, may appear.

Some women develop pigment spots on the face (melasma).

Could these phenomena be temporary? Can they be treated?

Some physiological phenomena may resolve spontaneously after delivery (such as pigmentation around the nipples and a dark line on the abdomen). Others persist, although not so pronounced, for a long time (styria). Age spots can be eliminated with special whitening creams. Unfortunately, creams against the appearance of stretch marks practically do not work. There are various techniques that reduce optically visible stretch marks that can be used after childbirth (laser resurfacing, mesotherapy procedures, plasma lifting procedures).

During pregnancy, there may be some diseases that are observed only in this physiological state of the woman and usually resolve after childbirth.

polymorphic dermatitis of pregnancy.

This pruritic dermatosis develops according to various sources in 1 out of 300 pregnant women.

The rash usually begins with striae in the abdomen and may spread to other parts of the body.

This condition is not harmful to the fetus and usually resolves completely by 6 weeks postpartum.

It is extremely rare for this dermatitis to develop after the baby is born, but it resolves completely after 6 weeks.

Bullous pemphigoid of pregnancy - BPB (pregnancy herpes) - a rare autoimmune disease with the formation of blisters on the skin, observed during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. In some sources, this disease is usually described under the term "pregnancy herpes", although it has nothing to do with herpes infection. As a rule, it begins with the appearance of small bubbles in the navel area with further spread to other parts of the body.

There is no evidence for the development of a serious risk for the newborn, although skin lesions in newborns in the form of a transient urticarial and vesicular rash are noted in 5-10%, which spontaneously disappears within 3 weeks.

These diseases are successfully treated. The doctor selects therapy according to the standards and prescribes drugs with minimal risk to the mother and fetus.

There is also diffuse hair loss during and after pregnancy - Telogen effluvium (telogen effluvium), which usually lasts from 3 to 12 months after childbirth and resolves on its own without any treatment. Such hair loss after the birth of a child is normal and according to the European Association of Dermatology, treatment with special shampoos or other preparations during this period is not effective.

It is very important to tell the doctor about any changes in the skin during pregnancy and not to self-medicate, because in addition to the usual and expected changes in the skin during pregnancy, a rash can be a manifestation of dangerous diseases for mother and child (syphilis, rubella, chickenpox , genital, herpes simplex and herpes zoster).

Khramtsova Yu.S.

Darkening of the skin during pregnancy: myths, causes, treatments

Darkening of the skin during pregnancy:
myths, causes, treatments