Pregnancy Acne That Just Won’t Quit…Even Three Years Later

Hello Amy!

I know you are a wee bit busy with preparing to give birth, and all… but I had a question. For your sake I’ll try to keep it brief.

I’ve always had so-so skin. Not amazing, but not terrible. That is, until I got pregnant with my second child 3 years ago, I started breaking out constantly. My skin didn’t act up that terribly while I was pregnant with my first, who happened to be a girl. So, I tried to reassure myself that maybe since I was having a boy this time, my skin was behaving differently. Unfortunately though, after I had my son my skin didn’t clear up. So, here I am now. It’s been 3 years and nothing seems to work. I’ve tried everything from Proactiv to Cetaphil, to Murad and so on. Nothing has helped my skin clear up.

After reading about your love for Philosophy I decided to try the “Makeup Optional Kit For Congested Skin.” I love the way it makes my skin feel, but it’s been about a months now, and alas! It hasn’t helped clear it up! I had tried not to get my hopes up when I bought it, but I must admit somewhere deep inside I had hoped that it would at least help. When I bought the kit it came with samples of the Microdelivery Peel, which makes my skin feel heavenly, but hasn’t made any difference either.

Amy… please oh please do you have any advice for me? It’s amazing how problem skin can affect one’s self image…

Thank so you so much, and congratulations on your adorable Noah and Sweet Bebe #2!

E.Rose

How to Manage Problem Skin

One question for you. Wait, no. Two questions:

1) Have you been to a dermatologist yet?

2) Have you been to the gynecologist recently?

Adult acne that hits during pregnancy and doesn’t resolve after childbirth is pretty much on par with the monthly breakouts many women get right before their periods. It’s hormonal, triggered by something going on elsewhere in your body, which is going to make it hard for any product to really get at the root and real cause of the problem. And anyone who has used as many different products as you — and it really sounds like you’ve exhausted the over-the-counter skincare offerings — should cry uncle and see a dermatologist already. Get your acne type profiled and identified (inflammatory? cystic? comedogenic?) and start trying the prescription-strength treatments, IF that’s what your doctor deems necessary.

I mention the gynecologist because…well, there is also prescription birth control, which can really help with hormone-related breakouts. I used to get full-on ZITS and those awful, painful blind pimples when I wasn’t on the Pill. I got lucky with pregnancy, as it cleared up my skin for the most part (well, as long as you ignore the wretchedly pizza-faced first trimester) and then I stumbled into the Philosophy regimen and laaaaaa angels singing clouds parting and all that jazz. If you’re already on the Pill, you can ignore this wild guess, UNLESS you’ve maybe been on the same one for the last three years and could stand to maybe switch to one that has ponied up the money for studies and the right to put “IT CLEARS UP YOUR SKIN!” on its brochure.

One thing I won’t do here, however, is recommend any products. Because…man, you’ve tried a lot and nothing has worked and I sure as hell can’t think of anything that would point to being something super-uniquely DIFFERENT that will SURELY WORK. At this point I cannot even imagine your frustration level at wasting money on skincare products, so…yeah. Time to see a real live professional. Clearly there’s something going on, deeper than just congested pores, if certain products can make your skin “feel” awesome and great…but still not treat the underlying breakout problem at all.

Before You See a Doctor, Do This

When you go see said real live professional, try to go armed with as much information and knowledge as you can. Think about the different regimens you’ve tried — have you ever seen ANY improvement with ANY of them? If you saw SOME improvement with, say, Proactiv, that might be enough information for the doctor to deduce that a prescription-strength benzoyl peroxide cream might be what you need. Some dermatologists tend to be severely overextended, and patients coming in with acne-related complaints sometimes get the short end of the stick since…you know…there’s people out there with Highly Suspicious Moles. If you can, try to find a doctor who advertises or is known for specializing in acne and complexion-related complaints. Someone who won’t just throw an Accutane script at you or recommend Cetaphil even though you’ve already tried Cetaphil and poof! Visit over, pony up on your co-pay, please.

Spend some time at acne.org, which really is the most informative site I’ve ever come across when it comes to learning about what acne IS and what CAUSES it and how to figure out what treatment will work for YOU. The forums are also a really great place for information and first-hand experiences with pretty much every regimen known to man. The site now has its own skincare line (which I’ve yet to hear anything about, positive or negative), but still remains mostly unbiased when it comes to recommendations for other face washes and moisturizers. (And for the love of God, don’t even THINK about skipping the moisturizer if you do end up with something prescription-strength — you’ll go from Pizza Face to Flaky Week-Old Croissant Face in no time.)

Don’t forget to visit Amalah’s must-read weekly Pregnancy Calendar.