Lifestyle Changes during Pregnancy

The lifestyle you are used to having will inevitably change during pregnancy. You might wonder about what types of things you can continue doing of the things that you normally did before getting pregnant. The following will give you information about certain activities, like for example going to the sauna or getting your hair dyed in the hair salon, traveling and work.

Beauty Treatments and Pregnancy
Something typical that all pregnant women hear is that the minute everyone finds out they are p regnant they are told they look beautiful and that they let off this maternal aura. It is possible that you may feel more beautiful, however there are women that feel exactly the opposite. Either way if you are like most women, you will ask yourself if you can continue with the beauty treatments you were used to getting normally without putting your pregnancy at risk. The following is a list of the possible risks associated with beauty treatments:

• Creams for wrinkles: Anti wrinkle creams are very popular these days and they are made with products derived from vitamin A. However, it is known that products derived from vitamin A can cause birth defects when they are taken orally. Although there is not information that indicates that these products present problems in the cream form, a lot of doctors do not agree with medications that contain them, both oral and topical.

• Botox: It is not known how safe Botox is during pregnancy and while breast-feeding. Most doctors will suggest you enjoy the your pregnancy and not use Botox.

• Thermal Reconditioning: This is a new method used for straightening the hair permanently. A series of chemical conditioners are placed on the woman’s hair and then an iron is used to straighten the hair. There are no scientific investigations on the relation between this technique and pregnancy. Some of the chemical products that are used are similar to those that are used to do perms. It is possible this treatment will not cause problems but there is not conclusive data on it.

• Chemical Peelings: The Alfa hydroxide acids are the main ingredients in chemical peelings. The chemical products work topically but small amounts are absorbed into the system. There is not data indicating that chemical peelings are safe during pregnancy, it is possible they are, but you should talk about it with your doctor first.

• Capillary Perms: There is not scientific evidence that the chemical products of perms are harmful for the growth of the baby. However, they do contain a great amount of amino acid, and for your own safety when doing this, make sure there is a good amount of ventilation.

• Face Masks and Facial Cleansers: It is possible you will notice that during pregnancy your complexion changes because sometimes the hormones of the pregnancy do terrible things to your skin. Facial treatments might help obtain good results, but in other cases they might not. You can still do them anyways and enjoy the experience of getting pampered.

• Massages: Massages do not present any sort of problems and you will even be interested in knowing that there are special massages for pregnancy that are designed to accommodate the abdomen. For the more advanced stages of pregnancies often times special massage beds are used with a hole in the center that allows you to lay face down.

• Hair Dyes: It is very common for pregnant women to ask if they can dye their hair. Most women worry about hair dyes because they have probably read in magazines or someone in their family has told them that they are sometimes toxic and can hurt the baby. Doctors tend to disagree in this point. It is possible that your doctor will suggest you only use natural dyes while you are pregnant.
• There is most likely no problem with using dyes during pregnancy. There is no evidence that would lead to believe that dyes cause birth defects or abortions. Years ago hair dyes used to contain formaldehyde and other chemical products that were potentially harmful for the baby but the hair dyes nowadays do not contain them.

• Manicures and Pedicures: There is absolutely no problem with getting manicures or pedicures during pregnancy. Common sense will lead you to know that in a beauty salon where the equipment is cleaned adequately and is properly ventilated, the risk level is zero.

• Waxing: Waxing your legs or bikini line with hot wax is applied topically which is then pulled to remove the hair. There is nothing inside the wax that is harmful for the baby. This means that you can continue waxing while you are pregnant if you are worried about hair growth.

• Laser Depilation: The laser that is used to remove the hair works by emitting heat to the follicle to avoid hair from growing again. Sometimes creams with anesthesia are applied on the skin before this procedure. Although there is no concrete information about laser depilation during pregnancy, there is not any known reason why this therapy that is locally applied should not be done if you wish.