Before getting pregnant, I’d always heard about “that pregnancy glow.” Little did I know that the “pregnancy glow” is caused by increased oil production due to hormone fluctuations. For women who have oily or combination skin, pregnancy can mean a return of acne like you haven’t dealt with since high school. For some women, pregnancy can be the first time they’ve had to fight acne.
There are a lot of wives’ tales about how to deal with acne, as a clinical trial statistician, I thought I’d help weed through those tales and give you some tips on what has actually been proven to work.
First, you need to know what you are dealing with. Blackheads (open comedones) and whiteheads (closed comedones or milia) are caused by oil trapped in clogged pores. Blackheads are exposed to air, causing the clog to oxidize, while whiteheads are covered over with skin. Pimples are clogged pores where bacteria has entered the clog and is feeding on the oil and dead skin cells, causing pain and irritation.
The main thing needed to fight acne is gentle cleansing and exfoliation. Harsh cleansing and exfoliation can actually increase oil production in the skin, causing the acne to worsen. Many cleansers claiming to fight acne actually contain irritating ingredients to make them “feel” like they are working. Skin care products should not cause your skin to tingle, that isn’t a sign it is working, that is a sign that your skin is irritated. After cleansing, your skin should feel clean and normal, not dry, tight, or tingly.
Everyone reacts differently to ingredients, but common skincare ingredients that are irritating include: ethanol, denatured alcohol, ethyl alcohol, methanol, benzyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, sd alcohol, ascorbic acid, camphor, eucalyptus, menthol and peppermint.
Another common misconception is that eating chocolate causes acne. There is no evidence to back this up, but there is some recent evidence that high glycemic index foods may increase acne. If you find excluding a certain food works for you, then it may be possible that you have a sensitivity to that food.
Eating well and staying hydrated improves skin function, which can have an affect on acne, so it is important to drink enough water and eat a healthy balanced diet high in antioxidant rich foods.
Recommended skin care routine:
- Use a gentle, water-soluble cleanser. I recommend using cleansers formulated for sensitive skin rather than for oily or acne-prone skin, as they tend to not include irritating or harsh ingredients. I don’t recommend bar soaps, as the ingredients used to keep the soap in bar form can clog pores. A few cleansers I recommend are: Boots Expert Sensitive Gentle Cleansing Wash, Olay Foaming Face Wash for Sensitive Skin, Paula’s Choice One Step Facial Cleanser for Normal to Oily/Combination Skin, and The Body Shop Aloe Gentle Face Wash for Sensitive Skin. These aren’t the only good cleansers out there, look for fragrance- and dye-free cleansers without irritating ingredients. If you have body acne, use a wash cloth to wash the affected areas morning and evening.
- Exfoliate. Topical scrubs are often harsh, look for a gentle one, or just gently massage skin with a damp washcloth. BHAs, or salicylic acids, are the best chemical exfoliants for acne-prone skin. Some people may be concerned because BHAs are related to aspirin (which is verboten during pregnancy), but the amount absorbed through the skin into the blood stream is negligible. I like Paula’s Choice 2% Beta Hydroxy Acid Liquid because you can buy a pump spray from the site to screw onto the bottle, allowing you to spray the liquid onto hard to reach areas like the back.
- Topical disinfectant. There is no need to use a topical disinfectant if you only have blackheads or whiteheads, since there is no bacteria involved in these blockages, but if you are fighting pimples, you will want to include a topical disinfectant in your skin care regime. Benzoyl peroxide and tea tree oil have both been shown to effectively disinfect the skin, with benzoyl peroxide being found more effective than tea tree oil.
- Remove blockages. Gently removing blackheads, whiteheads and pimples manually is pretty much the only way of quickly getting rid of them. The key word in that sentence is gently. You can get a facial from a licensed esthetican who does extractions. You can also buy a comedone extractor tool to do this yourself at home, or you can cover two fingertips with tissues and gently squeeze the pore to release the blockage. Just be sure not to be too overzealous removing blockages. If it doesn’t budge with gentle pressure, it should not be removed. You don’t want to damage the surrounding skin or cause an infection in the pore.
- Sun exposure. One of the treatments German doctors recommended for fighting acne is 15 minutes of unprotected sun exposure every day until the acne gets under control. Light therapy is a legitimate treatment for acne, although in the US, it is generally done with lasers. During my last pregnancy, while gentle cleansing and exfoliation helped, it wasn’t until I tried the sun exposure treatment that I completely rid myself of body acne. Germany is at a fairly northern latitude, so if you live nearer the equator, I would recommend lowering the time of unprotected sun exposure. Only you can decide if you’re willing to risk sun exposure. Personally, I felt, given that I am of southeast Asian descent, have a medium skin tone, don’t burn hardly at all, and given the limited time I would be doing it (just a few weeks), that it was an acceptable risk for me.
For advice fighting non-pregnancy related outbreaks, there are other options available, I would recommend reading Paula Begoun’s advice on fighting acne at any age. She also has a great blog post on how to correctly pop a pimple.
Are you dealing with acne? Do you have any advice?
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I did not have acne, but I have rosacea acne — white pustules on my face at times — and I overdue it with squeezing, minor “surgery” with a pin, etc. When I was pregnant, I did not have too much trouble with my skin! It is amazing the number of conditions that either improve or worsen with pregnancy….
Speaking of this… I found this post about hormones and “pregnancy brain” and “momnesia” and thought it would give you a chuckle… I think there is some truth to the slipping away of the mind while pregnant and/or having small kids!! It was sent to me via a different link from a UnitedHealthcare newsletter (my insurance company, of all places!)
http://www.webmd.com/baby/features/memory_lapse_it_may_be_pregnancy_brain
It just proves how much hormones affect how our body functions
Thanks for the link to the article. Like the doctors, I don’t really think the mommy brain functions differently than that of non-mommies, I think lack of sleep is the biggest component of mommy brain and having different priorities is also a component. Funny enough, I don’t have a problem remember where stuff is, my mommy brain symptoms are that I’m much clumsier and tend to forget words when speaking.
I had all sorts of weird symptoms during pregnancy which I assume were down to hormonal changes. This included being unable to bite my upper and lower jaws together fully – my teeth just seemed slightly out of place. In my last pregnancy I used the very same anti stretch mark cream I had used before and came out in a terrible rash and has to stop using it. There are now very few creams I can use and I can’t wear perfume. Since my first pregnancy the smell of vanilla makes me feel sick. Hormones are weird things!
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