Moon face symptoms aren’t painful, but they can be stressful and affect your sense of self-esteem. When you stop taking steroids, the swelling should go away. If you can’t discontinue the medication, there are things you can do to reduce the puffiness while living with moon face.
This article will explain how steroid medications cause facial swelling. It will look at the emotional and physical affects, as well as the options for moon face treatment.
What Causes a Moon Face?
Moon face describes how the shape of your face changes, becoming rounder like a full moon, when you are taking prednisone and other corticosteroids. This happens because fat deposits shift, causing your cheeks to get puffy and your jawline to fill out.
If you take corticosteroids for a long time, your body is also more likely to retain water. This also causes swelling and puffy facial features.
Corticosteroid-related moon face results from trying to treat a serious medical condition. Some of the conditions treated with steroids include:
Skin disorders, including poison ivy Inflammatory diseases, including asthma, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), ulcerative colitis, and arthritis Certain types of cancer, including lymphatic and blood cancers Autoimmune diseases, like Addison’s disease, lupus, and multiple sclerosis
The corticosteroids act like cortisol, a stress hormone that the body produces naturally. Cortisol is key to fighting infections, regulating insulin levels, balancing fluid and salt, regulating circadian rhythms, controlling blood pressure, and easing inflammation.
Too much cortisol, though, is a problem. Too much of the corticosteroids that act like cortisol are also a problem. They flood the system and cause a condition called Cushing’s syndrome.
How Moon Face Affects You
Moon face is often just thought of as an annoying side effect of prednisone, but it can significantly affect your quality of life.
Weight gainIncreased body hairThinning skinAcneBruisingSwollen legsStretch marksRosy cheeks
Emotional Health
In some instances, people’s faces seem to be dramatically altered by extra fat and water retention. You may feel like you don’t even recognize yourself in the mirror. This can cause low self-esteem and depression.
The emotional stress caused by moon face can be made worse by depression or mood swings, which sometimes occur when you take corticosteroids.
Physical Health
Corticosteroids change how your body stores fat. Moon face is one way this affects you. You may also develop a “buffalo hump,” extra fat on the back of the neck. Many people also gain weight around the abdomen and middle of the body.
This extra body fat puts you at risk for metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that increases your chances of developing heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
Moon Face Treatment
Moon face symptoms typically resolve when you stop taking prednisone or other corticosteroids. Your face should eventually return to normal. However, it’s extremely important that you do not suddenly stop taking the medication.
You need to taper, or gradually reduce, your dosage of corticosteroids. If you stop all at once, your body may not have enough cortisol. This can lead to problems such as:
Extreme tirednessWeaknessUpset stomachWeight lossChanges in skin colorMouth soresCraving for salt
Work with your provider to plan your tapering schedule. How quickly the dosage is lowered depends on how long you’ve been taking the drug and what dosage. If you’ve been taking corticosteroids for a long time at a high dose, you may need to lower the dose very slowly every week or every few weeks.
Managing Facial Swelling
If you can’t stop taking prednisone or similar medications, you can reduce how much your face swells by taking some precautions:
Control what you eat and limit calories to avoid additional gain. Reduce salt intake to prevent fluid retention. Drink more water and sleep more to reduce swelling throughout your body.
Summary
Prednisone and other corticosteroid drugs are frequently prescribed because they are effective at treating inflammation, autoimmune diseases, and other illnesses. They help people with serious illnesses such as IBD, asthma, and arthritis to take control of their health.
The benefits come with some possible downsides. though, and a puffy-looking moon face is just one of the possible impacts. The transformation to your looks is a sign that your body is undergoing many changes, some of which could lead to health problems.
If you notice other symptoms of Cushing’s syndrome, talk to your healthcare provider about lowering your dosage or slowly tapering your body off corticosteroids.
A Word From Verywell
Feelings of sadness or depression often come with corticosteroid use, and dealing with moon face and your appearance may add to them. Being informed and discussing issues with your healthcare providers can help you to improve your health and your quality of life.
