Posts Tagged ‘pregnancy stretch marks’
Ways to Reduce and Prevent Stretch Marks from Pregnancy
Women who are pregnant are the targets of many scams and miraculous stretch mark skin care creams are the most popular. While a small amount of Vitamin E can be good for the skin, to expect that it will make all stretch marks vanish overnight is not logical. Irrespective of what is applied, the skin will likely show scars of drastic stretching that occurs over a short time period. The degree of successful healing is dependent upon a person’s age, skin tone, heredity and diet.
The common cause of stretch marks is the stretching of the skin, an increase in cortisone production that weakens the skin’s elasticity and the disruption of collagen production. Typically, pregnancy or other weight gain causes the appearance of stretch marks. Nevertheless, other folks might get these scars too. These include body builders, growing teenagers, those taking Corticosteroids or those with a inherited disorder, like Cushing’s syndrome, Marfan syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Folks may be predisposed to these unsightly marks if they have dry skin, do not drink sufficient water, consume excess greasy foods, exercise too little or too much, take steroids, smoke or drink.
Even though there is a variety of supposed stretch mark removal treatments available, the majority are at best only partially effectual. The least invasive treatment is the use of stretch mark creams such as Tretinoin cream (Retin-A, Renova) that can assist with new stretching during pregnancy. These creams work by rebuilding collagen with the effect of reducing stretch mark appearance. Also available for new marks is Pulsed Dye Laser Therapy or Fractional Photothermolysis, both of which use wavelengths of light to stimulate collagen and elastin growth. For older marks, Microdermabrasion uses a handheld device to buff the skin surface with crystals, thus getting rid of skin cells from the top layer of skin to encourage newer, more elastic skin growth. In addition, for older white marks, the Excimer laser endeavors to stimulate melanin production to reduce the appearance of the scars.
Since 90% of women encounter maternity stretch marks of some sort, there is no need to bemoan or agonize your new body. Your hubby will eternally look at you as the mother of his children, which holds a particularly special meaning, no matter how your body has changed during these last nine months. Occasionally, several sessions of self confidence counseling can do a lot more than some magic cream for preventing stretch marks during pregnancy that may do little more than cost you money. Unless the scars stretch over large sections of your entire body, you need not be concerned about these innocuous marks. The best thing you can do is focus on weight loss, feeling restored and looking after that warm, snuggly new baby.
Mail this post
Here’s What You Don’t Know About Pregnancy and Stretch Mark Prevention
You can use all of the stretch mark creams you wish when you are expecting a baby, but you probably still won’t be able to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy. When you’re in your fourth month of pregnancy, your body will naturally begin a fast growth cycle. If you happen to be one of the very few women fortunate to be born the right genes, you can avoid pregnancy stretch marks by following proper health care and regular use of pregnancy stretch mark creams. For most women, however, the factors below indicate if they will have to deal with pregnancy stretch marks.
1. Genes: If the women in the pregnant woman’s family (e.g., mom, sister, grandmom) had stretch marks, she will have stretch marks as well.
2. Own history: Pregnant women who’ve had stretch marks in the past (pre-pregnancy) are definitely going to get stretch marks while pregnant. Your stretch marks may even get longer with every pregnancy.
3. Fast weight gain: If, during the first couple of months of your pregnancy, you gain weight fast, stretch marks may begin to appear on your body starting on the fifth month.
4. Taking care of health: Women who don’t practice proper health care (e.g., regular exercise, good nutrition and drinking lots of water) are likely to get pregnancy stretch marks.
5. Skin pigmentation: Women who have light skin are more given to getting stretch marks during pregnancy.
Stretch Marks Still Appear Even After Following Pregnancy and Stretch Mark Prevention Tips
Fortunately, stretch marks don’t come with health problems and don’t cause pain. However, stretch marks can retain more moisture and can also cause skin dryness, which can induce the occasional itchiness.
Obviously, as the stomach has the most severe, abrupt expansion in most pregnancies, it is also the location that is typically hardest hit by stretch marks. But pregnancy can also cause rapid skin expansion in other areas of the body, not just the stomach. Your arms, breasts, buttocks, hips and thighs are likely locations for stretch marks as well.
Pregnant women with light skin tend to get reddish stretch marks. Pregnant women with dark skin, on the other hand, tend to have stretch marks whose color is somewhat the opposite of their skin tone. The color tones can be anything from pink to dark purple.
Don’t think that your stretch mark blues are over once you deliver. You may continue to develop stretch marks after giving birth or the ones you already have may look even worse since your body is going to keep on undergoing fast shifts in terms of size.
There is light at the end of the stretch marks. Over an extended period of time your stretch marks will fade. Unless your weight gain continues after delivering, the pregnancy stretch marks will probably have already lost most of their coloring after about six months. Once you are done nursing your baby, ask your OB-GYN to recommend a stretch mark product. The popular Barmon Stretch Mark Cream is often their top choice of non-prescription creams for stretch marks. Do not start using this stretch mark product until you stop breastfeeding your baby.
Mail this post