Mommy Mommy - The Straight Up Truth About Stretch Marks

Home

The Straight Up Truth About Stretch Marks

The Bad News?

Stretch marks are not preventable. It's all about your genes, because whether or not you'll get stretch marks depends on how elastic your skin is. Basically, if your mom or your sister got stretch marks during their pregnancy, you'll most likely get them too. As well, you're more likely to get stretch marks if you gain a lot of weight rapidly, if you're having multiples, if you're baby is big, or if you have excess amniotic fluid. So it's important to try and gain weight slowly and steadily (easier said than done!). But never blame yourself for your stretch marks, blame your genes!

Important Note: Using steroid creams to treat stretch marks during pregnancy is a bad idea! The steroids will be absorbed into your system and will be passed to your baby. Check with your doctor before using any kind of steroid creams. Alright, that's enough of the negative! What's the good news?

The Good News?

There are a few things that you can do during pregnancy to reduce the severity of your stretch marks. Things like:

1. Drinking lots of water
2. Eating enough protein and small amounts of fat (this will help improve skin's elasticity)
3. Keeping yourself covered and out of the sun
4. Exercising
5. Eating healthy foods with lots of color (antioxidants help with tissue repair and healing)

What are some things that you can do after pregnancy to treat stretch marks?

There are a few different types of creams and lotions out there that can help reduce the appearance of stretch marks. But it's important to ask your doctor which creams are safe to use if you are breastfeeding your baby.

Laser treatment is also used to treat stretch marks. This can be quite effective for a lot of women, but it is costly.

Massage is also known to be effective in helping reduce the appearance of stretch marks by increasing the blood flow to the area that is affected.

Last but not least...time! In time, stretch marks will fade to the same color of your skin. So even if they're red and noticeable right now, after your baby is born, they will fade and blend in much better with your skin.

Just remember that even if you get stretch marks, and your skin is changed forever, your new baby makes it more that worth it!

[ Back ]