Why Does Your Nose Get Bigger During Pregnancy? The Truth

Pregnancy / By

Pregnancy is intriguing. Your body undergoes various expected changes, including a bigger belly, sore breasts, foot pain, glowing skin, and weight gain. But, of all these new developments growing a bigger nose is rarely part of your pregnancy expectations.

Have you experienced a wider nose during any of your pregnancies? Don’t freak out just yet. You are beautiful, whether with a big or small nose. But what is this phenomenon?

Why does your nose get bigger during pregnancy? Read on to learn about the ‘pregnancy nose,’ causes, and possible remedies.

why does your nose get bigger during pregnancy

Why Does Your Nose Get Bigger During Pregnancy?

The nose may grow /look bigger during pregnancy due to several reasons, including increased hormones, expansion of blood vessels, bigger nasal muscles or membranes, preeclampsia, and increased water /fluid retention.

While your nose change in size and shape may be bothersome, it’s harmless and temporary. Jokingly referred to as ‘pregnancy nose,’ the condition involves nose swelling that often comes with nasal drainage, inflammation of tissues(pregnancy rhinitis, and sometimes nose bleeding.

Gradual nose swelling is normal, like the feet, hands, face, or belly. If you notice a rapid increase in size within a short time, mention it to your doctor immediately. While you’ll likely have foot swelling or face puffiness toward the third trimester, the pregnancy nose occurs anytime.

Interestingly, only a few women get a bigger nose during pregnancy. It depends on your immunity level, which varies from one person to another.

Many changes occur as your body works to create a better environment for your growing munchkin. So, please relax and enjoy your new visual changes, knowing it’s all for a worthy course. Soon everything will be back to normal.

Why Do Women’s Noses Get Bigger When Pregnant?

If you’re a Tik Tok fan, you might have stumbled upon trending nose photos of women showing their noses before and after pregnancy. These posts went viral as people questioned the wider, larger-looking noses, and it’s only fair to understand what happens. So, why does nose grow during pregnancy?

Some causes of a big nose in pregnant women include:

  1. Increase in hormones – Pregnancy comes with a huge hormonal shift to improve blood flow for your growing baby. This may cause dilation of blood vessels, making your body swell, and the nose is no exception. The phenomenon improves gradually with time until post-delivery.
  2. Expansion of blood vessels – Your body naturally increases blood flow indiscriminately to different body parts during pregnancy. To accommodate the high volume, blood vessels in your nose expand, leaving you with a wider, larger nose than usual.
  3. Expanded nasal muscles and membranes – Increased estrogen hormones enhance blood flow to mucous membranes, leading to surrounding muscle expansion. Since the nose bones are flexible, they quickly adopt a new size and shape.
  4. Preeclampsia – This is a common condition during pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure and increased proteins in the urine—these symptoms cause swelling of the feet, hands, face, and nose (edema).

Severe preeclampsia may have fatal consequences like preterm births and pregnancy loss. Go for regular medical checkups for proper management of high blood pressure.

  1. Edema due to Water retention – During pregnancy, hormonal activity and pressure from your growing baby cause retention of water or fluids—these extra fluids cause swelling and puffiness in areas including the face/nose.According to National Institutes of Health,  8 out  of 10 women suffer from edema at some point in the pregnancy. Edema is manageable using at-home methods that reduce water retention in all body parts.

There’s ongoing research to uncover the leading cause of growing –nose-syndrome in pregnancy. It could result due to one or several of the above reasons. Stay calm and enjoy every minute of your pregnancy journey while it lasts.

How Long Will My Wide Nose Last?

As the name ‘pregnancy nose’ suggests, your nose’s new shape lasts only during pregnancy. After delivery, your hormones normalize, and your usual nose shape returns after four-six weeks. You won’t even notice the nose widened in the first place.

Anytime you’re concerned about any unusual development, call your doctor immediately. The good news is that most of these visual changes rarely threaten your unborn baby; hence, there is no need to worry.

What Can I Do To Avoid  A Growing Nose While Pregnant?

Unfortunately, you have little control over which part of your gets bigger or smaller. This means you cannot control how wide your nose grows. However, habits that reduce body swelling and inflammation are helpful.

After understanding why does nose get bigger during pregnancy, Embrace your new look first before seeking ways to address the puffiness.

I’m sure you don’t want to deal with the additional stress and anxiety problem. If you are experiencing nose bleeding and nasal inflammation, too, the conditions are treatable.

6 Helpful Tips To Reduce Nose Swelling

After answering the question, “why does your nose spread during pregnancy?” It’s time to find solutions. A puffy nose is normal but can be bothersome.

If you’re sensitive about your appearance, this change may leave you with low self-esteem. Most women share success stories regarding their noses after trying different methods.  

Some of these practical tips include:              

1. Minimize salt and sugar intake – Eating salty foods makes your body retain fluids more. So, taking less salt will likely improve your feet, face, and nose puffiness. Refined sugar also has inflammatory properties, which can cause puffiness. If you like your beverages sweet, use other sweeteners like honey instead.

2. Exercise more regularly – Staying active boosts the proper circulation of blood. Additionally, exercises prevent stagnation of lymphatic fluids, making puffiness better. 

The NHS recommends taking a simple, 30-minute walk daily as an excellent place to start. Physical activities impact your body’s general health.

3. Drink plenty of water – Water flushes out the sodium notorious for fluid retention and body swelling. Hydration also reduces the excess weight that could show on your nose, feet, belly, and arms.

4. Add potassium to your meals – This electrolyte helps to counter sodium, leaving you with the right amount of fluids necessary for crucial body functions. Foods such as potatoes,

5. Try professional facial tools –  Facial tools such as face rollers and hand-held  Gua Sha alleviate swelling by moving lymphatic fluids from your whole face. After a shower, place the facial tools on the middle and side of your face routinely.

This improves circulation while drawing the extra fluid away from your face. These tools, especially Gua Sha, can be used on other body parts. You can source natural, pregnancy–friendly Gua Sha massagers from Amazon. 

6. Contour your nose – Contouring offers a quick fix, giving you better shape and confidence. This is so, especially for makeup users. The process is also easy to accomplish.

Wrapping Up

You are not abnormal if your nose has looked wider since you got pregnant. It’s among the many joys of motherhood. So, why does your nose get bigger during pregnancy?

This relatively rare phenomenon occurs due to hormonal changes, expanding blood vessels, enlarged nasal muscles, and preeclampsia.

While you may also experience nose bleeding and pregnancy rhinitis together with the swollen nose, the condition doesn’t harm your unborn baby. Luckily, you’ll return to your usual self after 4-6 weeks post-delivery.

Limiting your salt/sugar intake, exercising, taking more potassium, resting, and using facial tools are excellent ways of managing nose swelling. If you are still concerned about visual changes, call your doctor immediately.

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