Red spots on the belly during/after pregnancy

Red spots on the belly can also occur during pregnancy. Depending on the cause, the red spots can occur with or without itching.A possible cause for this can be an allergy. Cosmetics, for example, can be responsible for this.

If the spots have a stripe-like shape, they are probably stretch marks, which are caused by a strong stretching of the tissue during pregnancy. The stripes appear reddish due to translucent blood vessels. After pregnancy, the stripes fade slowly and then appear lighter than the surrounding skin.

Even after pregnancy, the appearance of red spots on the belly can have various causes. Besides allergies or inflammatory skin diseases such as neurodermatitis, stretch marks are also a common cause. These develop during pregnancy with the growing baby belly and remain even after birth. Only slowly do they recede and bleach out.

Red spots on the belly in combination

Red spots on the belly can be sharply limited to the belly only or can also appear on adjacent parts of the body such as the chest. In the following, clinical pictures and causes are presented for a combined occurrence of red spots on the abdomen and other parts of the body. Large-scale inflammatory skin diseases such as neurodermatitis or psoriasis can spread over the entire trunk and thus affect the chest and abdominal area.

Likewise, many infectious diseases such as mumps, measles or rubella can affect the entire trunk (i.e. belly, chest and back). One speaks then of a trunk-accentuated exanthema. Also the rubella lichen usually shows up on the trunk.

But also an allergy or hypersensitivity (e.g. to care products or detergents) can manifest itself on the chest and belly. Likewise a sun allergy can affect the entire front of the body. The causes of a rash in the form of red spots on the chest and stomach combined is therefore relatively unspecific and can occur in the context of various diseases and phenomena.

Similar to red spots on the stomach and chest, the combined occurrence of red spots on the stomach and thighs is similar. Skin diseases such as neurodermatitis can be the cause, and an allergy can also be the trigger. Here also medicines are possible as allergy triggers.

Frequently antibiotics are causal such as Penicilline. In addition, in the context of viral infection illnesses, above all the child illnesses such as Mumps, measles or rubella it can come to red marks at belly and thighs. In this case, other general symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph nodes or headaches and general malaise also occur.

The location of the red spots on the abdomen and thighs alone does not allow a specific diagnosis to be made. Rather, the time course, accompanying symptoms and the appearance of the spots are decisive for the diagnosis. Similarly, red spots on the abdomen can occur in combination with red spots on the back.

Here, too, causes such as allergies, inflammatory skin diseases and general infections such as mumps or measles may be possible triggers. A special form of the rash, which extends belt-shaped in front of the stomach or chest, is shingles (herpes zoster). This is a reactivation of varicella zoster viruses, which most people come into contact with as children in the form of chickenpox.

When reactivated in adulthood (usually in immunocompromised or elderly people), the inflammation occurs in the area supplied by a sensitive nerve, which explains the belt-shaped spread from the back in front to the abdomen. Small blisters are characteristic, which can be very painful as the disease progresses. The appearance of red spots around the navel can be caused by allergies.

For example, materials on clothing, such as nickel on the trouser button, can cause red spots. In addition, an inflammation of the navel (omphalitis) can be the cause of red spots. This is especially the case with babies.

In adults an inflamed navel piercing can be the cause. A special type of psoriasis, psoriasis inversa, can also cause red spots around the navel. This type of psoriasis mainly affects skin folds, such as the armpits, the groin or the navel. The skin is reddened in the affected areas and may flake. Frequently there is also itching.