I’ve mentioned in passing that since being pregnant, I’ve experienced skin issues. Well it’s kind of an understatement. I thought I’d talk about it here in case it helps someone else. Now that I’ve come through the other side I can look back and give an account of where it all started.
It my third week of pregnancy, I know that now, but back then I thought I was going through a random period of bad skin. I was getting all these under the skin spots, like little whiteheads but not white and they didn’t pop. I started to up the at home facials, I used retinol thinking oh, maybe my skin needs so resurfacing, I even went to Dermalogica and spent £100 on a whole new skin routine. The new routine didn’t do much though I did enjoy the oil cleanser. My skin just kept getting drier and drier and I was at my wits end.
Then I found out I was pregnant, it was about week 5 but I had no idea preganancy would cause skin issues. I continued trying to middle through myself, my skin started to get dry and flaky and feel really sore. I knew thought it needed hydration so I used my normal L’Oréal Glow bomb mask I’ve used how many times. It was after that point that I experienced the most intense inflammation and burning of my life.
I still didn’t put it together and figured I was having a random reaction to overuse of products like retinol. I’ve always been an oily girl so I had no idea how to cope. I was exfoliating (thinking that’s how to get rid of the dry skin) boy was that the wrong thing to do.
I booked a GP appt and whilst I did tell them I was pregnant I mentioned the retinol use and they put my skin issues down to that and gave me Hydrocortisone. Now if you know UK GPs, you’ll know there’s a lot of prescribing and not much doctoring going on. The Hydrocortisone helped but the minute I stopped using it I’d have a flare up so I went back to the GP. This time, I got referred to a dermatologist.
After nearly crapping myself when they told me my appt would be 10th Jan, I called daily and managed to get an appt in early August after someone cancelled.
Anyway, I was diagnosed with Photosensitive Seborrheic Dermatitis. It’s likely to have been triggered by changes in my hormones from the baby. It comes with bad dandruff, which I’m still battling and talk a bit more about in my Moroccan Oil post. I was given stronger steroid creams and ordered not to put anything other than the prescribed creams land ointments on my face. After a couple of flare ups from sun exposure (I’m now religious with sun cream) I’ve finally got it under control.
I’m hoping my skin will go back to normal but this experience has taught me how to really look after my skin. Whilst my situation is hormonal I think that I did some damage with all the products I was using to try to “fix” my skin. Yes, there’s been a positive unintended consequence in that, my skin peeled so much that practically all my hyperpigmentation is gone, but that’s beside the point. Our skin has a protective barrier, and if you use products incorrectly you can damage it.
Once baby is born, I do want to venture back in to serums and acids, but I’ll be sure to use them only as directed and seek professional advice beforehand.
T
