Tips and Tricks for Combating Dryness in Pregnancy
Bringing new life into the world encompasses a cascade of changes both inside and out. Pregnancy is a time of profound transformation, where every aspect of a woman’s life can feel touched by the miracle of impending motherhood. Amidst the excitement and anticipation, there’s a natural inclination to prioritize health and self-care, extending even to the skincare routine.
Yet, with the abundance of skincare products on the market, each promising different benefits, navigating this terrain during pregnancy can feel overwhelming. In this guide, we’ll explore the essentials of crafting a safe and effective skincare regimen tailored to the unique needs of expectant mothers, ensuring that the journey to radiant, healthy skin aligns harmoniously with the journey to motherhood.
Throughout pregnancy, hormonal fluctuations exert profound effects on your body, often manifesting in noticeable changes to your skin. While many women experience a natural radiance or what’s often referred to as the “pregnancy glow,” this transformative time can also bring about undesirable skin changes. These may include hyperpigmentation, stretch marks, acne flare-ups, the emergence of spider veins, heightened sensitivity, and increased dryness. Understanding and addressing these changes are key to maintaining skin health and confidence during your pregnancy journey. This guide is designed to explore effective approaches to managing dry skin during pregnancy.
Why is my skin so dry during pregnancy?
As Dr. Rogers explains in our interview on pregnancy-safe skincare, pregnancy increases the amount of blood circulating in your body, dilating your blood vessels. Consequently, this process can contribute to drier skin as increased water loss occurs through these dilated vessels.
Additionally, as your baby grows, your skin stretches, exacerbating dryness and discomfort. Environmental factors like cold, dry air, and harsh weather conditions can worsen dry skin during pregnancy.
During pregnancy, some women may encounter specific skin conditions like intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, a liver disorder affecting approximately 1 to 2 pregnancies in 1,000, as reported by the American Liver Foundation. Intrahepatic cholestasis is a condition that results in the accumulation of bile, leading to severe itching and posing several other risks.
During pregnancy, hormonal changes and immune system fluctuations can trigger or worsen eczema, a common inflammatory skin condition characterized by red, itchy, and inflamed patches of skin. Managing eczema during pregnancy requires special attention to skincare and potential triggers to alleviate discomfort and prevent flare-ups.
Fortunately, several effective remedies and treatments are available to treat dry skin during pregnancy. One essential step is moisturizing regularly with pregnancy-safe products containing hydrating ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, shea butter, and Vitamin E. It’s also important to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water and consuming foods rich in essential nutrients for skin health.
According to the American Pregnancy Association, maintaining hydration and opting for lotions infused with nourishing ingredients like Vitamin E have been suggested as a potential method to prevent stretch marks. While there isn’t conclusive medical evidence directly linking these remedies to stretch mark prevention, it’s worth giving them a shot.
Causes of Dry Skin in Pregnancy
Hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy, particularly increased progesterone levels, can disrupt the skin’s natural oil balance, leading to dryness and itchiness. Additionally, estrogen plays a role in maintaining skin elasticity and moisture levels, and fluctuations in estrogen levels during pregnancy can also contribute to dry skin.
From a medical standpoint, drinking water is essential for maintaining skin hydration and overall skin health. Water plays a crucial role in various physiological processes, including:
- Hydrating Skin Cells: Water is necessary for skin cells to function optimally. Adequate hydration ensures skin cells remain plump, flexible, and well-hydrated, contributing to a healthy skin barrier.
- Supporting Skin Barrier Function: The skin’s outermost stratum corneum layer is a protective barrier against environmental aggressors and water loss. Drinking water helps maintain the integrity of this barrier by ensuring it remains adequately hydrated and functional.
- Promoting Circulation: Water is essential for maintaining proper blood circulation, delivering nutrients and oxygen to the skin cells and facilitating the removal of waste products. Improved circulation can contribute to healthier, more radiant skin.
Environmental factors such as cold, dry air and harsh weather conditions can exacerbate dry skin during pregnancy. Protecting your skin from these environmental stressors by using appropriate moisturizers and protective clothing can help maintain skin hydration and prevent further dryness and irritation.
Hormonal Changes
Is dryness normal in early pregnancy? Yes! Dryness in early pregnancy is entirely normal. During the first trimester, when hormonal fluctuations are most significant, many women experience dry skin due to changes in skin texture and hydration levels.
As pregnancy progresses beyond this initial phase, hormone levels stabilize. Consequently, some women may find improvements in skin hydration.
What hormone causes dry skin in pregnancy? Progesterone, often referred to as the “pregnancy hormone” is one of the primary hormones responsible for dry skin during pregnancy. While crucial for maintaining pregnancy and supporting fetal development, increased progesterone levels can lead to reduced oil production in the skin. This decrease occurs because progesterone inhibits the activity of the sebaceous glands, which produce sebum, the skin’s natural oil. As a result, the skin may become dry, flaky, and prone to irritation.
Additionally, progesterone can disrupt the skin’s ability to retain moisture, leading to increased transepidermal water loss and dehydration. This interference with water retention can leave the skin feeling tight, rough, and uncomfortable.
Hydration and Nutrition
Ensuring proper hydration is essential for maintaining skin health throughout pregnancy. Drinking an ample amount of water helps keep your skin hydrated from within. While the recommended water intake varies based on factors such as body size and activity level, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) suggests that pregnant individuals aim for between 8 and 12 cups of water daily.
Hydration plays a crucial role in regulating the body’s internal moisture balance, directly influencing skin moisture levels. Adequate hydration helps the skin retain sufficient moisture, thereby decreasing the likelihood of dryness and dehydration.
By consistently consuming enough water, you can effectively maintain skin hydration and elasticity, ultimately reducing the risk of dryness and itchiness.
During pregnancy, consuming essential nutrients is crucial for skin health and well-being. According to Dr Sonali Kohli proper nutrition can significantly impact your skin health. Here are some key vitamins that play a significant role in promoting skin health and can alleviate dry skin during pregnancy:
- Vitamin C: Essential for collagen synthesis, maintaining skin elasticity, and acting as an antioxidant to protect against oxidative stress and aid in wound healing. Good food sources include citrus fruits, strawberries, kiwi, bell peppers, and broccoli.
- Vitamin E: A potent antioxidant that protects the skin from damage caused by free radicals, supports skin repair, and aids in regeneration. It is found in nuts, seeds, spinach, avocado, and wheat germ.
- Vitamin A: Crucial for skin cell production and repair, maintaining healthy skin tissues, and supporting the skin’s natural barrier function. Sources include sweet potatoes, carrots, dark leafy greens, eggs, and liver.
- Vitamin B: Helps with skin hydration, collagen production, and skin renewal. Whole grains like whole wheat bread, oatmeal, quinoa, and barley are rich sources of vitamin B.
Incorporating a variety of nutrient-rich foods into your diet during pregnancy can help ensure that you adequately intake these essential vitamins and minerals to support skin health and overall wellness.
Environmental Factors
During pregnancy, changes in weather and air quality can significantly contribute to skin dryness. Harsh weather conditions, such as extreme temperatures, low humidity levels, strong winds, and excessive sun exposure, can strip the skin of its natural oils, leading to increased dryness and irritation. Cold, dry weather can expedite moisture loss from the skin, whereas hot and humid conditions may lead to excessive sweating and potential skin irritation. On top of that, airborne pollutants and allergens can worsen skin dryness and sensitivity, compromising the skin’s natural barrier function even further.
To protect your skin from harsh environmental conditions during pregnancy, it’s essential to use moisturizers and hydrating skincare products that provide a protective barrier against external irritants. Additionally, wearing protective clothing such as hats, scarves, and gloves can help shield your skin from cold, dry air and UV radiation.
Managing Dry Skin on Face in Pregnancy
You may ask how to treat dry skin during pregnancy. Here are some tips on achieving the best skincare routine for pregnant women to treat dry skin:
Use a gentle cleanser to help remove dirt and makeup without stripping the skin of its natural oils. Avoid harsh surfactants such as sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrances, and chemical exfoliants such as salicylic acid.
Use a serum penetrating deeply into the skin with pregnancy-safe ingredients that target specific concerns, like hydration. Such as
- Hyaluronic acid: Ideal for serums due to its lightweight texture and ability to deeply hydrate and plump the skin.
- Glycerin: A humectant commonly used in moisturizers to attract water to the skin and maintain hydration levels.
- Niacinamide: improves the skin’s barrier function, increases ceramide production, and reduces water loss.
Moisturize regularly with products that provide a protective barrier on the skin’s surface, sealing in moisture and nourishing the skin to maintain hydration and prevent dryness. We’d recommend:
- Ceramides help reinforce the skin’s natural barrier, preventing moisture loss.
- Emollients (e.g., shea butter, jojoba oil): These nourishing ingredients help seal in moisture and prevent water loss, making them ideal for moisturizers.
Lastly, you’ll want to apply a zinc-based physical sunscreen that sits on your skin. This way, it doesn’t impede the effectiveness of your hydrating serum/moisturizer.
Here are some of Little Bean Approved facial products that are safe and effective to treat dry skin during pregnancy:
- Cetaphil Hydrating Gentle Face Wash: for dry to normal, sensitive skin. Includes glycerin for extra moisture.
- Neutrogena Hydro Boost Serum: With niacinamide and hyaluronic acid
- La Roche-Posay face moisturizer: for all skin types. Oil-free with Ceramide.
When choosing the perfect beauty products to treat dry skin during pregnancy, our pregnancy-safe ingredient checker is your trusted companion. Available on both IOS and Android platforms, this tool ensures that every ingredient listed in the product is safe for you and your baby. It also filters out some of the potentially drying ingredients, like fragrances, ensuring your moisturizer is effective and safe during this special time.
Skincare Routines
Establishing a pregnancy-safe skincare regimen is essential for expectant mothers to maintain healthy and radiant skin while ensuring the safety of their developing baby. When selecting skincare products, it’s crucial to choose brands that prioritize transparency about their ingredients and avoid potentially harmful additives. Utilizing tools like the Little Bean app can provide peace of mind by quickly verifying the safety of products during pregnancy.
Additionally, consider opting for gentle, fragrance-free formulations to minimize the risk of skin irritation. Look for products containing pregnancy-safe ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and vitamin E, which are known for their hydrating and nourishing properties. Remember to patch-test new products and consult with a healthcare provider or dermatologist if you have any concerns or specific skin conditions during pregnancy.
Effectively nurturing and shielding your skin during pregnancy is crucial to maintain its health and prevent dryness. This includes applying sunscreen for sun protection, utilizing hydrating mists for refreshing moisture, donning protective clothing for barrier defense, employing humidifiers for indoor humidity control, using gentle cleansers for effective cleansing without stripping, adopting moisturizing techniques to lock in moisture, and incorporating nighttime repair products for nourishing and repairing skin overnight. For more tips on tackling skin issues like dryness, feel free to check out our earlier blog post on Korean skincare for pregnancy.
Recommended Products
In addition to commercial skincare products, you can explore homemade and natural solutions for treating dry facial skin. Ingredients like coconut oil, aloe vera gel, and honey have moisturizing and soothing properties that can help alleviate dryness and promote skin health during pregnancy. For a little extra hydration boost, consider incorporating face masks enriched with hyaluronic acid, such as those by Ebanel. These masks provide intense hydration, leaving your skin feeling nourished and rejuvenated.
The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends, at minimum, using SPF-30 sunscreen daily 15 minutes prior to sun exposure.
Lastly, you’ll want to include a good physical sunscreen such as this user-trusted SPF 46 by EltaMd that leaves no white cast and is 100% Little Bean approved.
And for those who like to skip the extra step of applying foundation separately (like me), you can opt EltaMd tinted moisturizer instead.
And remember, there’s always the option of crafting your own skincare solutions right at home. Healthline suggests mixing apple cider vinegar with water for a natural cleanser that restores the skin’s pH levels and relieves dryness. Another option is to combine coconut oil, raw honey, and liquid Castile soap to create a gentle and moisturizing facial cleanser. Experiment with these homemade remedies to find what works best for your skin during pregnancy.
Navigating skincare during pregnancy can feel overwhelming, but with the right knowledge and tools, you can maintain healthy, radiant skin while safeguarding your baby’s well-being. Combatting dry skin is within reach by comprehending its causes and integrating hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid and vitamin E into your routine. Leverage resources such as the Little Bean app for product safety and explore homemade remedies for added nourishment. Prioritize transparency in ingredients and seek personalized guidance from healthcare providers. With these strategies, you can confidently care for your skin throughout pregnancy.
Up Next: Pregnancy Safe Nail Polish
Sources:
Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP) | American Liver Foundation
Skin Changes During Pregnancy | American Pregnancy Association
Nutrition During Pregnancy | ACOG
The Food-Skin Connection During Pregnancy | Dr Sonali Kohli
Natural Remedies for Dry Skin During Pregnancy | Healthline
