It’s fairly common for pregnant women, especially those with darker skin, such as Asian and Latina women, to develop the “mask of pregnancy,” or melasma. Melasma is a hormonal skin disorder that causes darker patches of skin to form on the face, which can be quite embarrassing for women. About six million women are affected each year. Up to seventy percent of pregnant women develop it. In addition to pregnancy, melasma has been tied to hormonal contraceptive use and hormone replacement therapy.
Usually pregnant women can cover the condition with makeup and try different methods of lightening the dark spots after their pregnancy, such as bleaching, facial peels, chemical peels, and other topical treatments. Sometimes the mask disappears on its own. For those women who are not so fortunate, there is a new method to remove “the mask” that is quite effective, especially for severe melasma that affects the deeper layers of skin: laser therapy.
Doctors can resurface the skin on the face with microscopic laser columns which penetrate the dermis and stimulate collagen and elastin production, healing the spots from the inside. The treatment can completely remove dark spots caused by melasma, but it is not a permanent solution. Melasma is chronic and comes back, so women who use any treatment will need to continue getting touch-ups over time.
Since laser and light therapy treatments are not recommended during pregnancy, women should wait until after their pregnancy to get treatment. The effects of laser therapy on pregnancy are unknown; so it is best to avoid.
In addition to treatments like laser therapy, women who have melasma should avoid the sun and use sunscreen liberally. Women should consider other treatments before turning to laser therapy; it should be used as a last resort. In addition, whether or not a woman is breastfeeding may affect which treatment options are available, so make sure you let your dermatologist know if you are nursing.