Diagnosis
Skin changes during pregnancy are usually diagnosed by skin inspection alone. Stretch marks, chloasma, linea nigra and spider nevi can be detected by yourself. However, if you are unsure, if you have itching, pain, burning or fever, or if you have a known skin disease, please consult your doctor! The doctor will take a closer look at the skin areas, if necessary take smears for pathogens or draw blood.
Therapy
The physiologically occurring skin changes during pregnancy do not need to be treated, as they are harmless and tend to regress on their own. With the pathological skin changes one must act however: In the case of pruritus gravidarum an induction of birth may be necessary, in the case of polymorphic pregnancy dermatosis the affected skin areas are treated with cortisone and antihistamines against itching. Cortisone is given for the rare pemphigoid. Depending on the cause, infections are treated with virustatics, antibiotics or anti-fungal agents. If a lues infection is detected during pregnancy, antibiotics, usually penicillin, are administered.
Prophylaxis
For stretch marks, you can massage the abdominal and chest skin daily with firming lotions.
Summary
Besides normal skin changes of pregnant women, there are also those with disease value. The cause is usually a change in the hormone balance during pregnancy. Most of the pregnant women’s skin changes regress on their own after the birth.
However, they can be triggered again in the next pregnancy and when taking the pill, as there are also changes in the hormone balance. Only very few of the mother’s skin diseases are also harmful to the child.
