How to Keep Your Skin Smooth and Prevent Stretch Marks

Exactly What Are These Marks?

Stretch marks are very thin streaks on the skin. These streaks start out as a pale pink color and then turn red or purple. Eventually, the streaks fade to a light silvery-white color.

What Causes These Marks To Appear

These marks happen during times of rapid weight gain like pregnancy or puberty. Basically, the marks are due to changes in the elastic supportive tissue under the skin. When the tissue can not accommodate the rapid stretching of the skin, stretch marks occur.

Is There A Way To Predict If I'll Get Stretch Marks?

One good way to predict if you will get stretch marks is to ask the people in your family if they have them. If your mother, your aunt, and your grandmother all developed stretch marks during their pregnancies, there is a good chance that you will also.

There are some things that will increase your chances of getting these marks.

These include:

1. Having a genetic predisposition to them
2. If you gain a lot of weight quickly during your pregnancy
3. If you are carrying twins or triplets
4. If you are carrying a large baby
5. if you have excess amniotic fluid around your baby

These marks are very common. According to statistics, over half of all women eventually develop these marks on their skin.

Many women learn to accept their marks while others find them to be a great embarrassment. If you find the marks to be unattractive, there are some things you can do to minimize or erase them.

How Can I Prevent Stretch Marks?

You can prevent stretch marks in a number of ways. These include:

• Gain weight slowly and steadily. You may have a month where your weight jumps due to the baby's growth, but over all you should gain only 2 to 3 pounds per month.
• Your total pregnancy weight gain should only be between 25 to 35 pounds.
• Use a cream with cocoa butter and glycol on your belly and other places where the marks may develop.

Keep in mind that certain creams may not work with your particular skin type. In other words, using lotion may not be successful in reducing the marks.

Do The Marks Ever Fade?

Over time they will fade. They most likely will never totally go away unless you use creams or get laser surgery. It seems to be easier to erase the new marks rather than to fade the older marks.

Is There Anything Else I Can Do?

Some studies seem to suggest that eating a well balanced diet and drinking plenty of water can help your skin to remain supple enough in order for it to stretch. If you do use creams and ointments, you should make sure that the ingredients are safe to use during pregnancy.

For example, many creams contain Retinol which is not supposed to be used during pregnancy. If you are breastfeeding, you may also want to talk with your doctor in order to determine if it is a good idea, as some ingredients may be secreted in breast milk.

Some women decide to skip the creams all together and use laser treatments to get rid of their marked skin. This particular procedure can be done in a minimal amount of time, but it is quite expensive. In addition, the expenses are not normally covered by insurance.

If you have stretch marks, or are concerned about getting them, this information should help you. Using the tips in this article, you may be able to keep your skin smooth and stretch mark free. Good Luck!

For lots more information about how to get rid of stretch marks, check out our website. We provide plenty of information on how to avoid getting stretch marks, as well as all of the stretch mark removal treatments that are available.

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