Cristina F. Martel © for Babies and more If you are pregnant and suddenly you see that a dark spot on the skin irregularly installed on your face, quiet. It is common in the skin of the pregnant woman, it is called chloasma and will end up disappearing after pregnancy.
We already explain to you in Babies and more which is a facial aesthetic problem typical of pregnant women due to increased levels of estrogen and progesterone.
This unusual hormonal activity causes an increase in melanin secretion by melanocytes, the cells responsible for manufacturing this natural skin pigment that gives us the color of tanning.
Chloasma or Melasma
They are called pregnancy, chloasma or melasma spots, different words for the same definition. These types of spots have no relief, that is, the skin is smooth to the touch. They can leave in any part of the body exposed to the sun's rays but as a rule they appear on the face: cheeks, forehead, chin.
In some cases they can cover almost the entire face, like a mask with irregular edges. The tone is usually dark brown although in some skins it can take shades of yellow-ocher. Be that as it may, you don't have to be scared or despair: after pregnancy, they will disappear.
Or at least the stained area will be blurred or greatly reduced. Look at the main photo, the dark spot occupies almost the entire forehead and is also seen on the right temple. These dark skin spots have Two origins: hormonal or genetic. Chloasma is the hormonal type. Of course, they may appear because of both origins.
Hyperactivity of melanocytes
I always try that you can understand what happens inside the skin with a drawing. In the one you see in the photo above it shows the melanin tour who manufacture melanocytes from the cell to the outermost layer of the skin. The spots are due to the fact that the quantity manufactured is not the same in all areas: some have more quantity than others. That irregularity makes us see a darker stain on the outside.
It is bad? No, chloasma should not alarm you even if you consult with your doctor or a dermatologist is not over. As for his disappearance after giving birth, when hormones regularize their activity and return to normal, usually disappears. There are cases of all kinds: they disappear altogether, take more or less, almost disappear but there is a shadow here and there. Other skins are sensitized and as soon as the sun sets, the stain reappears and darkens. Every organism is a world.
Cosmetic skin care with pregnancy spots
Contact with the sun's rays is what activates the production of melanin. For that reason they look darker in summer than in winter, they are more noticeable in women who sunbathe and are more blurred in the skins that are protected. He sunscreenIt is your beauty ally if you get chloasma.
There is much debate about the appropriate sun protection index whether it is winter or summer but for skin prone to spots or already stained, I recommend SPF 50+. Facial sunscreens mimic the impact of sunlight on the skin, responsible for activating the melanocyte.
You can use it as a day cream even if you don't have spots, such as preventive facial treatment. In this case even an SPF 30 would be enough. Before bedtime you should clean your skin well so you can breathe better at night.
The second cosmetic care that favors the removal of skin blemishes is the scrub or facial peel. Once a week, file the skin of the face and remove dead cells will visibly clarify the chloasma.
As to bleaching productsI recommend that you first be patient and let several months pass after giving birth. Give the body time to rebalance again, continue with the sunscreen. The stain may decrease and / or disappear by itself.
