How do I help minimize acne during pregnancy?

Question

I'm 15 weeks pregnant and have really bad acne on my face, chest, back and shoulders. I've tried switching to sensitive skin facewash and lotion a month ago (hasn't helped). Even though it's embarrasing, the worst part is that it's painful! Any ideas on how to minimize it (or maybe even when it will start getting better on it's own)?

I'm not sure if I have oily or dry skin... what does it mean if right after I wash my face it's dry, but then gets oily as the day goes on?

Answer 1

Re. "what does it mean if right after I wash my face it's dry, but then gets oily as the day goes on?" -- probably that the face wash you're using is too drying, 'sensitive' aside. A lot of the stuff on the market is made for fifteen-year-olds, not women who're fifteen weeks pregnant...

Try 'Johnson's Baby Body Wash' -- the plain clear yellow kind -- it'll de-grease without drying. Cheap, too, compared to stuff claiming to be for acne. (And if you don't like it, I bet you'll have a use for it in not so many months.)

You can ask your doctor for some sort of topical antibiotic preparation -- generally considered pregnancy-safe. A lot of stuff isn't, though, so be careful.

Moisturise just a little bit with a _completely_ oil-free, water-based lotion. Ask a pharmacist to steer you to a good one; they see all sorts of dermatologists' patients coming in with directions to buy such-and-such, and are usually reliable for recommendations. If your skin gets too dry and irritated, it just makes the acne situation worse, and drying out your skin tends to fool it into over-producing oil.

Stuff for oily skin with 'alpha-hydroxy acids' is worth looking in to, too. Good luck.

Answer 2

You probably need a more natural remedy instead of drugs.

At some point in your life you will probably suffer from acne. Almost everyone does. There has been a great deal of news about acne treatments recently with many claiming a combination of an acne prevention diet and some of the all natural acne treatments to be the answer. So you might want to try that route.

Acne is a disorder of the sebaceous gland. This is the gland in the skin that secretes an oily substance to the face, neck, and back mostly. If the sebaceous gland becomes clogged with this oily substance you get a zit or a pimple. And sometimes you get a lot of them.

There are many different forms of acne but acne vulgaris is the most common form in adolescents and young adults. The treatments are basically the same no matter what type of acne you have.

The actual cause of acne is still not really understood. Some believe it lies in genetics. Others believe it is a combination of factors such as androgens, allergies, stress, or the use of certain mediations. Natural practitioners tend to believe it is a result of nutritional deficiencies, and toxins in the body that can cause the liver to dysfunction.

The skin is the largest organ in our body and it eliminates toxic body waste through the pores when we sweat. If the body has more toxins than the liver or kidneys can discharge the skin takes over. Many doctors actually refer to the skin as the third kidney. When toxins discharge through the skin they can cause a disruption in the healthy skin and wella you have pimples.

Here are some simple tips to try to help reduce and eliminate your acne. Remember it can take up to 4 weeks to see a difference.

1. Always drink plenty - 8 glasses minimum and more is better. Water helps the body flush it self better and more efficiently.

2. Apply white vinegar to the face, neck, and back. Let is sit for 5 minutes then rinse off with warm water.

3. Use lemon as an exfoliate treatment to remove dead skin cells that clog the pours. Apply the lemon to the infected areas. Let dry for 10 minutes then rinse off with cool water. You might feel a bit of a burning sensation when you apply it. If you can’t take it then dilute the lemon a little bit.

4. Eat a well balanced diet that is high in fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid unhealthy foods such as greasy or fast foods whenever possible.

5. Take a good quality muli vitamin daily. As well add zinc supplements to your daily intake. Zinc has shown remarkable results in clearing acne.

6. Use Grape seed extract or Echinacea to help boost your immune system to better fight acne causing bacteria.

7. Use Dandelion or Burdock to detoxify your liver and kidneys.

8. Try a homeopathic remedy or an Ayurvedic treatment. Natural medicine is known to have tome remarkable results. That’s because they think outside the box. Rather than treating the symptom which in this case is the zit, they treat the whole you and look for the underlying cause.

Acne can be annoying at best and devastating at worst. There is no reason to have to live with acne these days, no matter how bad it is. There are many treatment options available and if over the counter isn’t working then seek the assistance of your doctor or dermatologist. Don’t suffer any longer!

Answer 3

I don't know how severe it is but what I know most doctors recommend is washing morning and night, and using a good lotion. Most times, if you had dry skin before you were pregnant, you will end up with either severly dry skin or oily skin. If it was oily before pregnany, you will have really oily or dry skin. I have never heard of anyones skin staying the same. Also, it will change through out the pregnancy but will generally stay in the same area but will get better or worse depending on the hormones.
What it sounds like to myself, is your body hormones have changed but your routine didn't. So your pores got clogged. Well now the bacteria that causes acne is out of control. Thsi can happen in dry or oily skin. So you have to find out which one you have. The best way to tell, is to wash only in the morning for a few days, with a light soap and at mid day, see if your face is oily or normal or dry and how much of either. You have to do this after a couple days of only washing in the morning, no lotion, that is the key.
Now when you find out what your skin type is now, know that what ever soap you use will have to have a antibacterial wash in it. Dry or normal skin, cetaphil antibacterial wash for face is fabulous. Oily skin, pick from one of the neutrogeona products, they are also fabulous. Now there are some changes you need to make with your routine:
1. You need to wash your face anf kneck with face wash
2. You need to wash your body with body wash (you have completely different layers of skin on these parts of your body and will not do any good to one or the other if you use the wrong type)
3. You need to wash in the morning and at night
4. No matter what type of skin you have, you need to use lotion! Face lotion for face, body lotion for body! Use lotion for oily skin with oily skin wash, lotion for dry skin with dry skin wash!
5. Always give it a couple weeks to start working, it takes a while to change. Do not change your routine during this time, please give it time (from what your said, it sounds like you are good at giving it time)
6. Use a body scrub and face scrub once to twice a week and make sure it is for the same type of skin you have. Getting dead skin cells of your body is important, it can breed bacteria. If you don't want to spend the money on scrubs, buy the scrubby gloves (their like 4-8 at rite aid or longs) and use them but keep one for face and one for body and don't do more than 1-2 times a week. There are also great scrubs you can make at home, main ingrediants are salt (for oily skin) or sugar (for dry), just google it.
The main thing I want to warn you about is the ingredients in acne products, like salica or retinal. Sometimes these are looked down on in pregnancy, so talk to your doctor first to see what they say. So you can weigh the benefits and risks together. I do not know them myself or ot what percentage they worry.
Good luck and congratulations on your pregnancy! Just remember all the pregnancy symptoms will eventually subside ;)

Answer 4

God I wish I had an answer for this. I've wanted to ask the same question. I'm having the same problem. I got proactive and its cleared up my face A LOT. But the back and chest, nothings helped and its really bothering me.

Answer 5

If you have badly harsh acne on your face or on your neck then you have to try Walden' plan

Answer 6

As far as natural products go - you could try colloidal silver. It is just water charged with silver particles (silver is a natural antibacterial) so it can reduce acne.

Answer 7

i've been trying this stuff called beautiful skin and to my surprise it's actually working!

Answer 8

use herbal treatments.