My cheeks are tingling! Feels a bit weird.

[Spaghettinetti]

For the last few weeks, every now and again I've had tingly or sore cheeks. It's like I've been holding a smile for too long. They're also quite red at times. My BP goes up when I'm at the doctors (white coat syndrome) but is fine at home. I'd liken it to the feeling that you get when you go for a long fast-paced walk on a cold day. I don't feel unwell, but I'm anxious to know if anyone else has this and whether it's something that I should be worried about...

Wow. I had this during my pregnancy (DS now four). Thought I was the only one who had it! From about 35 weeks onwards, I used to wake up with tingling cheeks that were almost sore/stingy and they were bright red! It could come on any time though. Sometimes the red was so deep it was almost purple.

I would suggest not googling because you will find all sorts of anxiety-inducing diagnoses, such as rosacea. For me, the periods of hot flushes (limited to my cheeks) stopped about 8 weeks after DS's birth. I think it was a hormonal thing.

I did go to the GP just to get their opinion. I was worried at the time (and also vain, worrying about how it looked!) but it did pass. I am naturally a pale skin tone and easily blush anyway. This was definitely more intense than usual, though!

I'm glad to hear that it's not just me BlueSprite. It's ever so weird. I did start to google and thought better of it. I'm also quite pale and have started to get 'the mask of pregnancy' (melisma?) too, so all in my all, my face looks a bit like a paint palette... I might have a word with the midwife next week and see if she can shed any more light...

Don't worry, that's the main thing :) Do mention it to the midwife though for peace of mind. Stress/self-consciousness for me made it worse. I just slapped extra foundation on so I didn't feel quite so much like a strawberry (though it still showed through). The tingling was the most annoying thing, as it was hard to ignore and made my cheeks feel like they were burning up. I remember applying aqueous cream helped, and it felt nice and cool too.

I had that too, I assume it was hormones as it went by about the 30th week and I haven't had it since

Well, I did mention it to my midwife and she seems to think that it is part of the whole 'mask of pregnancy thing'. She thinks that the tingling that I'm feeling is caused by the changes in pigmentation in my skin, rather than blood pressure issues or anything else, so that's good, I guess. It's strange how many weird things happen to us when we're pregnant...

Thanks again for your help BlueSprite. I'm glad that it passed quickly angry :-)