What is Pregnancy Mask and What You Can Do About It

by Emma Williams | September 10, 2018

Pregnancy comes with a lot of baggage, some symptoms go away as soon as you have the baby, and others are here to stay. I’m looking at your extra ten pounds! The extra hormones bring a lot to the table, and one of those is pregnancy mask. 

From wanting to eat ten million pieces of ice a day, to seeing your feet resemble something out of the bottom of the lagoon, it’s difficult to know what’s in store for the next few months.  One of the lesser conditions it brings is melasma, also known as pregnancy mask.

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Pregnancy Mask, What Is It? 

A known as melasma, is a condition that affects up to seventy five percent of women, a form of hyper-pigmentation. When we have a surge of estrogen in the body, it causes dark blotching on the face. 
According to Scary Mommy, the same chemicals that are responsible for melasma are responsible for the well-known linea negra that can be observed on the bellies of many women during pregnancy. And if you have freckles and moles, they can also be caused to turn darker than normal. 

Treatments 

Treatments for pregnancy mask really depends on the reason you are suffering from it. While it usually affects women who are pregnant, it can also be due to your birth control. Switching the type of birth control methods will usually make the condition go away. If the reason why you have pregnancy mask is that you have a bun in the oven, don’t worry too much – it usually always goes away as soon as you don’t have all the extra hormones in your system, i.e. after birth. 

Pregnancy mask can also be traced back to elevated levels of sun exposure, so ensuring you are wearing suncream and practicing safe sun care, such as long sleeved clothing and sitting in the shade will help. 

Just remember, that it isn’t forever, and while it’s uncomfortable now and dampening your self esteem.  It will pass. 

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