Do you know that women also have natural testosterone? If not, tell I’m telling you now that a woman’s body also produces testosterone but ten times less that the testosterone which a man’s body produces. Though we produce less, we are more sensitive to this hormone. If you notice, there are some women who have a visible hair above their lips like mustache or have lower voices. The testosterone level of these women are higher than the normal testosterone that a woman’s body should produce. Aside from this physical effect, too much testosterone on a woman’s body may strongly damage the liver and lead to serious ailments. For pregnant women, high level of testosterone may cause birth defects in unborn fetuses. Hence, testosterone enhancer are prohibited for pregnant women.
Why I landed on this topic? I was researching if it is true that the testosterone is the culprit for dark neck and underarms of pregnant women or just another pregnancy myth. I don’t find any site that points to testosterone as the cause of dark neck and underarms. Most sites blame the hormonal changes in general as the cause of darkening skins during pregnancy. So I guess, testosterone has nothing to do with the darkening body parts of an expectant mothers.
I am also experienced as a licensed aesthetician, and the dark neck and underarms is caused by pregnancy or menstrual hormones. These are not necessarily testosterone, but the hormones cause hyperpigmentation or the pregnancy mask in pregnant women called melasma. This is especially true for darker skin types.
Thanks for your input 🙂 I also realized that when I was doing the research, that the darkening does not necessarily from testosterone. It corrected me 🙂
wow this is great news Mylene. I had a lot if these when I was pregnant for my first child.