No Stretchmarks for Pregnant Women If You Don't Want Them
By bigfelah
@bigfelah (73)
New Zealand
February 28, 2007 6:02am CST
Here's a free tip to all pregnant women or those contemplating having children regarding stretchmarks. You may know this already but its definitely worth putting into practise. Stretchmarks are caused simply from your skin being drier than normal with pregnancy and the belly then stretching creating the marks. Compounding this is because of both these factors the belly becomes incredibly itchy and you then scratch which then creates what I call the zebra stripes lol (yep those real visible large ones). Well ladies I am here to tell you that after 6 children I have no stretchmarks whatsoever!!! The key is to lubricate your belly and hips fom the outset!!!! And I mean lubricate well, instead of just moisturiser use a nice oil like almond oil as this works better by lasting throughout the day longer. This eliminates the dryness and the urge to scratch which are your enemies!!! Do this day and night and resist the temptation to scratch (even the smallest satisfying scratch can result in some marking). Its solely up to you whether you want to embrace all the wear and tear of pregnancy OR preserve at least this area. Heed my words of wisdom and you won't have to worry about stretchmarks during pregnancy. All the best!!!
3 responses
@kittles (156)
•
28 Feb 07
I think it's up to your skin natually- I have natually dry skin and as much as I tried (I doused myself with every single sort of oil and strech mark cream you name it I tried it) morning and night it was fine till about 7 months then they started showing up and sadly there was nothing I could do about it the damage was done...I have really bad strech marks (even the doctors comment on it lol) and it's quite upsetting but really I did try my best but it really didn't seem to work... :(
@bigfelah (73)
• New Zealand
28 Feb 07
Well I suppose this could be true though every woman Ive spoken to about them have had the same results. For those who lubricated well and never scratched they had nothing as well, and those that found they scratched due to itchiness/dryness had the stripes to prove it. But i will conceed that if you did your best then there must be other factors.
@LauraClaire (10)
• United States
28 Feb 07
I agree it's important to hydrate and take care of your skin during pregnancy. However, the fact is that for some women stretchmarks are inevitable. It's really the type of skin you have and your coloring that makes stretchmarks more or less noticeable. Some women simply have the type of skin that scars much more easily. They are not caused by scratching but by the skin expanding. Anyone who gains weight and then loses it can get them-even men. The skin has enormous capacity to stretch and increase in mass but these marks are the price we pay. For most people they do fade over time. To me, stretch marks are not ugly or horrible, they are what all women have as the tracks of time and childbirth mark our bodies. They are life marks.
@bigfelah (73)
• New Zealand
28 Feb 07
Yes I heard this, like darker skin women are more prone than lighter coloured. I am a half caste myself with red hair and light skin which can tan dark brown in the sun lol. My mother used coconut oil and never scratched and has none after 7 children. However my 2 sisters said they scratched whenever the dryness caused irritation (which was a lot)and have the zebra stripes to prove this. The eldest said she gave up trying not to when she dreamt about a satisfying scratch only to wake and find that she was actually doing it. In the morning she had her first lot of strechmarks in that area. So while I'll conceed that there are other factors I stiil believe that lubrication and no scratching is your best defence no matter what.
@bonita002 (98)
• United States
28 Feb 07
I think some women have more elastic to their skin then other women. I too, never had a stretch marks but I believe it was inherited from my mother's genes.
