Benzoyl peroxide and pregnancy

Pregnancy

Being pregnant is something that almostevery woman wants when she comes to her childbearing ages. Once she conceives apregnancy, a period of many changes starts. First of all, she is excited sincepregnancy is a wondrous experience of carrying a new life in the belly. On theother side, the expecting mothers start to deal with plenty of uncomfortable conditions.Since the levels of the hormones begin to fluctuate in this period, the outbreakof acne is a quite normal skin disorder in pregnancy.

While some pregnant women are luckierand only develop mild form of acne that can be easily treated with certainhome remedies, there are also those women who suffer from severe form of acnein pregnancy. These more serious types of acne usually require specific skincreams made of specific chemical components, which are absorbed by the skin whenthey are applied. Every pregnant woman should pay attention about the ingredientsof the creams and skin products since certain chemicals can make an impact onthe baby.

Most creams for acne treatmentcontain benzoyl peroxide and many questions have been raised about the safetyof its use during pregnancy. Benzoyl peroxide is widely used in cosmeticindustry due to its belching properties and due to its antimicrobial propertiessince it is effective in killing the bacteria found on the skin surface. The creamsfor acne treatment usually contain this organic compound as an ingredient, butonly in small amounts.

Benzoyl peroxide and pregnancy

This organic compound belongs to the category C drugs and its side effects are not tested in humans and animals, which is why itcan be concluded that the use of benzoyl peroxide is neither safe nor unsafeduring pregnancy, even though many experts think that it is safe and can be usedduring pregnancy but only in moderate amounts.

Many people are also concerned about the possibility of this compound to pass into the breast milk, but the experts have not answered this questioneither since it was not tested. However, it is known that the skin only absorbsabout 2% of benzoyl peroxide when the cream for acne treatment is applied onthe affected skin and many doctors believe that this amount is very small tohave certain adverse effect on the baby. Just to be on the safe side, it is always better toavoid the risks and therefore, it is recommended to use some natural and homeremedies when the problem of acne appears in pregnancy.