Your guide to be a perfect parent

Article Forum

Caesarean Postpartum Baby Care Getting Pregnant Signs of Pregnancy Pregnancy Week by Week

Baby Health and Safety Baby Grooming Breastfeeding Baby Food and Nutrition Baby Shower Bottle Feeding

Toddler Games and Activities Feeding and Nutrition Behavior and Learning Fears and Anxieties Social Behavior Health and Safety

Pre-adolescent Years Development Bedwetting School and Learning Arts and Crafts Beauty and Style

Development Understanding your Child Adolescent Years Outbursts Conflicts Counselling

Adoption Single Parent Only Child Kids Room Relationships Family Values

Baby Products Pregnancy Products Toddler Products Tween Products Teen Products Mom Products

Diane
Winters

Melasma - The Pregnancy Mask!

How many women are prone to getting melasma during pregnancy? What are the warning signs that a woman is getting the pregnancy mask? How can this mask formation be prevented. How serious can it become and why does it happen? What causes the face to go through with this? Does it only happen on the face or does it also occur on the rest of the body. Is melasma highly prominent and common? Are there any creams that can be applied once you get this? How is it diagnosed, and what are the other symptoms of pregnancy that are similar to melasma?

9 months ago

Quick Reply

Respond to this discussion

James Welch | Aug 16 2011

Melasma or the mask of pregnancyis a tan or dark skin discoloration. Although it can affect anyone, melasma is particularly common in women, especially pregnant women and those who are taking oral or patch contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medications.The symptoms of melasma are dark, irregular well demarcated hyperpigmented macules to patches commonly found on the upper cheek, nose, lips, upper lip, and forehead. These patches often develop gradually over time. Melasma does not cause any other symptoms beyond the cosmetic discoloration. For some women, the brown patches will fade after childbirth, hormone therapy or the discontinuation of oral contraceptives. However, in many cases, melasma will not go away on its own.Traditional remedies include enzyme inhibitors, bleaches, depigmenting agents, steroid creams, pulsed light, chemical or acid peels, microdermabrasion, aggressive dermabrasion and traditional laser treatments. These methods often deliver lackluster results, significant downtime or the risk of adverse complications. Fraxel treatment, on the other hand, has received FDA approval for significantly reducing melasma where other treatments have failed, at the same time minimizing downtime or discomfort.