How to Avoid Stretch Marks During Pregnancy

June 6, 2008 – 1:42 pm
by Rachel Starks

Pregnancy is probably the main reason why women have stretch marks. Most women are actively looking for a way to prevent them during their pregnancy.

Gaining weight rapidly is often the reason why the skin stretches too fast and acquires unsightly marks. Known to dermatologists as striae, stretch marks often begin as red or purple blemishes that turn to silvery white lines on the skin on the areas of the body that grow too quickly.

What is the Key to Avoiding Stretch Marks During Pregnancy?

The body undergoes great changes during pregnancy and avoiding stretch marks during pregnancy is not easy. Despite taking great care, many women find that avoiding stretch marks during pregnancy is not possible. While the possibility of getting stretch marks at this time is quite high, very few women actually succeed in completely avoiding stretch marks during pregnancy.

The first rule and the most important is to moisturize the area that is likely to be affected. Avoiding stretch marks completely during pregnancy is hard but it can be done to some extent if areas such as the stomach, breasts, buttocks, arms and thighs are moisturized regularly. Products such as cocoa butter, shea butter and oils should be applied a minimum of twice a day to minimize the possibility of stretch marks.

Another idea that can help in preventing stretch marks during the pregnancy cycle is to make sure that the weight gained during pregnancy is within the limits set by your obstetrician. If you are able to control the weight gained during this period to these recommended levels, the stomach is likely to be the only area that grows, while the rest of the body will gain only smaller amounts of weight. This will contain stretch marks, ensuring that they are limited to the stomach region.

However there are many women that are able to maintain their weight at levels recommended by their doctors but still cannot contain stretch marks to the stomach area, it is not possible for all women to do this. While it is inevitable that you will gain weight during you pregnancy, a slower increase kept within limits allows the skin the needed time to adjust to the growth of the belly, instead of a rapid increase in weight.

One of the most important factors to avoid getting stretch marks during pregnancy is to make sure your skin is moisturized at all time. Along with this approach another way is to keep weight gain at a lower but healthy level. After all these precautions if they still appear, a moisturizer is recommended, in the hope that the stretch marks will eventually disappear.

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