Donna

hi, could really do with some serious advice. while i was pregnant i formed what is known as a maternity mask. its like a face mask that is orange/brown in colour and is on my forehead, nose and cheeks. i have a very pale skin tone so it sticks out a mile. can anyone tell me how i can get rid of it? im very aware of it and its getting me down

SusanRL

The mask is actually a condition called Melasma. I have this too and I am considering using a prescription cream called TriLuma. You can ask your doctor about this and get some advice.

Donna

thanks for that. ACTUALLY all doctors have said is that it will go away in time and not to worry about in. now i have a name for it i can look into more. cheers

Trisha

I have heard it goes away on some people, but others it never does.

orthomolecular

Donna,

You can take your doctor's word on that, but you might continue to research this topic further.

I happen to think that the cause of this problem may not go away on its own. I think you may have too much copper in your system which can show on your skin, and also give you natural red highlights sometimes too. Anne Louise Gittleman, a nutrititionist and author, developed this problem and didn't realize the cause until she developed the red highlights. (The skin coloring and hair coloring are basically copper tones.)

The mask of pregnancy can come about because of high hormones especially estrogen. When estrogen goes up copper must go up too. That is why some women will notice it gets darker around the time of their period, which is when estrogen starts to rise.

Women who use anovulatory meds (BC pills) can have a problem with vitamin b6 metabolism, making them prone to this problem and hormonal imbalances.

Vitamin b6 and zinc can help with reducing this hyperpigmentation.

One thing you can do to confirm my theory is try some Zinc Status which is sold in most health food stores. This product will telll you immediately if you have a zinc deficiency. Copper and zinc balance one another in the body. When copper is high then zinc is low. Zinc Status works, and this test is better than having some blood drawn and being told what your zinc levels are in your bloodstream.

If you look at other conditions that can cause hyperpigmentation you will see that there can be a copper zinc imbalance in those conditions too. Wilson's Disease is an extreme example, but Addisons Disease is another one.

Of course it is your health, so you can follow your doctor's advice or you can try to sort this out for yourself with further research. Most doctors use a suppressive therapy approach, that means they only treat the symptoms and never really address the underlying problem.

martha

thank you so much for your insight.

mstar

Try skin bleaching products to even out your skin tone...such as the diana stalder skin bleaching products (for all skin types).

Good Luck!

irfan

ask from ur doc for some Hydroqunon preprations for that.

AmericanIdol

do all women get some form of melasma during pregnancy? how common is it?