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Stretch Marks During Pregnancy

Are Stretch Marks During Pregnancy Preventable?

There is no sure-fire way to make sure you don't get stretch marks during pregnancy, but you can do a lot to decrease the chances that you will suffer from this condition.

Eight out of ten women end up with stretch marks during pregnancy, so it's more common than not.

However, that doesn't mean that you can't become part of that 20%, or even help change the statistics, overall.

Again, while there's no guarantee, there's still a lot you can do to improve the odds in your favor.

Discuss the following concepts with your nutritionist or ob-gyn before attempting to change what you're doing.

What Causes Stretch Marks During Pregnancy?

Stretch Marks (striae gravidarum) during pregnancy are caused by the skin becoming scarred as the dermis stretches too far, too fast, separating and disorganizing collagen bundles and damaging elastin fibers, as the body accommodates a growing belly and increased adipose tissues deposited across the pelvis, breasts, buttocks, and hips, primarily.

You may read a lot about how a woman's hormonal changes during pregnancy make this happen, but we can easily observe the same phenomenon in men who are bodybuilders, or women who gain weight very quickly when they're not pregnancy.

Stretch Marks can even appear on adolescents during puberty.

Really, it's all about some part of the body growing too quickly for the skin to comfortably accommodate this change, whether it's the belly in a pregnant women or the skin over the pectorals in a male bodybuilder.

The skin is not elastic enough to deal with such sudden changes and stretch marks, or scarring, results.

Does Pregnancy Hormones Make The Skin Thinner And Thus More Readily Scarred?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes; the increase of estrogen and progesterone during pregnancy increase blood flow to the skin and often lead to thinner skin, more likely to suffer trauma from stretching, increasing a pregnant person's chance of getting stretch marks, without considering any other factors.

What Factors Play A Role In Who Gets Stretch Marks During Pregnancy?

Genetics: A propensity to stretch marks can be genetically inherited, though there may be epigenetic factors that can alter this. In other words, just because the women of your family had stretch marks, doesn't mean you have to.

Skin Type: Some people's skin is just naturally more elastic, and therefore less likely to overstretch and develop stretch marks.

Cortisol levels: The hormone cortisol, associated with stress, actually weakens the skin's elastic fibers.

Stress on the skin: How much pressure is pushing outwards and what has been the relative increase in volume? Pregnancy weight gain is an essential factor to consider.

How fast you gain weight: Here, the consideration is how fast the changes in the pelvis and lower body happen. Of course, this is the most important factor to consider, and will determine a lot.

Is Prenatal Massage Good For Stretch Marks During Pregnancy?

Massage Therapy during pregnancy can help stretch the skin and underlying fascia.

Also, oils that help nourish the skin are employed.

Lastly, massage reduces cortisol levels, which really impact the skin's quality.

Therefore, even without extensive study, it's elementary that Pregnancy Massage would have a beneficial effect on the formation of stretch marks, to some degree.

How Severe Are Stretch Marks Usually?

Stretch marks on pregnant women's bodies can range in appearance.

Some women get only a few small marks, while others get thick, heavy lines across many parts of their breasts, pelvis, thighs, and lower abdomen.

Sometimes the stretch marks are a significantly darker color than the surrounding tissue, and other times not.

Lastly, stretch marks may be very deep, or quite shallow.

Are Stretch Marks Dangerous?

Stretch Marks are not a medical hazard; that is, the appearance of stretch marks is strictly a cosmetic issue, and has no short term or lasting effect on you or your baby.

Stretch marks do not cause significant pain, but in women with sensitive skin, burning or itching may accompany the appearance of stretch marks.

Also, stretching those areas of the skin may also cause a light pinching feeling, never really serious pain.

And so, we can easily see why this condition has not really received any research money or attention by medical professionals.

Also longstanding historical misogony in the medical field may have also played a role; and, cultural assumptions about women and pain and pregnancy as well.

Are Stretch Marks Permanent?

The present thinking on scarring by medical authorities is that it is considered a permanent condition.

However, there are many treatments, after ending up with stretch marks during a pregnancy, that can reduce the severity and visibility of these scars.

How Do I Prevent Stretch Marks?

Maintaining Hydration Is Key To Preventing Stretch Marks

Water helps keep the layers of your skin moving freely across one another, and helps skin stretch more easily. Be sure you're properly hydrated during pregnancy, and of course, during your postpartum phase as well.

During the postnatal period, you will need to be especially sure you're maintaining hydration if you're choosing to breastfeed.

This is the first big step toward improving the quality of your skin, including skin thickness, elasticity, texture, and wrinkle depth.

Eat A Balanced Whole Foods Diet To Help Prevent Stretch Marks

Whether you're eating the Standard American Diet, a vegetarian diet, or some other diet, you should focus on healthier food choices. There's a "good" way to eat and a "bad" way to eat, regardless of which specific diet you're eating.

A variety of different-colored vegetables, health-healthy oils, and a good amount of protein daily can help contribute to stronger skin, which will more successfully resist scarring.

Try To Control Your Weight Gain During Pregnancy To Avoid Scarring

If you're following the above concept, and eating better food choices, you also must consider portion size as well. Even giant portions of healthy foods can become unhealthy for us.

While every woman is a different size, for most, gaining more than the recommended 25 to 30 pounds can increase chances of stretch marks.

Keep in mind that for a larger woman, the expected weight gain during pregnancy may be slightly higher.

Exercise and Yoga May Help Prevent Stretch Marks

Taking part in various physical activities, from Hatha yoga to walking, can help keep your lymph moving, blood circulating, and your muscles, ligaments, tendons, and most importantly in this instance, skin, accustomed to stretching.

Especially with yoga, your skin will get used to stretching in all different directions. THis can only help, with regard to helping avoid stretch marks during pregnancy.

Apply Oil To Your Belly, Breasts, Pelvis, and Buttocks Twice Daily As A Prophylactic To Stretch Marks

We recommend applying oil to your body twice daily, all the parts that may grow quickly including your belly, breasts, pelvis, and buttocks.

Use a generous amount of oil and pat dry any extra with a hand towel.

Oils can stain bras, undergarments, and even outer-garments, so be careful!

Be careful not to apply before showering, as you could slip.

If you apply the oils after showing, by the time you shower again, the oils should have been absorbed into your skin, and thus slipping is lo longer a hazard.

Take Vitamin C Daily: Vitamin C has been proven to positively affect the production of collagen in the skin, as well as repair damaged collagen.

This is one vitamin that you want to be taking as often as you can, throughout the day, in reasonable doses. Aside from acidity, it's able to be of benefit in doses that are far higher than the U.S. R.D.A.

This potent antioxidant protects the skin from free-radical damage caused by pollution, pathogens, inflammation, and more, preventing wrinkles and hyper-pigmentation.

Vitamin C crucially stimulates collagen production, helping to maintain the skin's elasticity and texture.

Take Vitamin E Daily: This Vitamin is a fat soluble antioxidant and protects the skin from oxidative stress caused by a number of reasons.

Vitamin E also helps the skin absorb and retain moisture, and hydrating the skin is one of our primary goals, when considering how to lessen chances of ending up with Stretch MArks during or after pregnancy.

Considering the causes of scarring, and stretch marks, in particular, it's important to note that Vitamin E helps produce new collagen, the key component that keeps the skin firm, retaining and rebuilding the skin's structure.

Vitamin E has also been knopwn to reduce hyperpigmentation and dark spots. Considering that many women get stretch marks that are hyper-pigmented, and thus more easily noticed, Vitamin E may help with Stretch marks in this manner as well.

As an anti-inflammatory, Vitamin E incredible, and can help soothe irritated skin, modulating the body's immune response.

Vitamin E also synergizes with other antioxidants like Vitamin C and glutathione peroxidase, the internal cell free-radical destroyer, to name just two out of a long list.

Avoid Washing With Soaps With Perfumes or Dyes or Irritating Essential Oils

Irritated skin splits more easily. Irritated skin cracks and scabs.

And so, when your skin is already stressed from the pressure of your innards pushing outward, inducing a growing baby, is it any wonder that stretch marks, essentially small scars, end up forming?

Why add extra challenges to your skin in the form of (seemingly) benign soap and personal care products? These can be the hidden irritants in your life that push your skin to the point of scarring!

Perfumes and dyes should be avoided in soaps and skin care products during pregnancy, because they can irritate the skin, and irritated skin is more prone to all kinds of insults, and increases the chances of forming scar tissue from rapidly increasing internal pressure pushing on the skin from within. Irritated skin just cannot stretch as easily.

Really, our best advice to you is become a consumer who is aware of all these chemicals and perfumes and dyes, and learn what they do to you. None of it is good. And, consider choosing to avoid these products in the future, even beyond your prenatal or postnatal phase of life.

What Are Some Debunked Myths About Stretch Marks During Pregnancy?

Debunked Myth: Pat Dry Only, Never Rub Your Skin Dry After Showering!

Some will tell you to be very gentle on your skin, and never vigorously rub your skin dry with a towel after showering, but instead gently pat the skin dry very carefully.

In fact, vigorously rubbing your skin is not a hazard, and skin scrubbing, including skin brushing, is actually beneficial to the lymph system as well as the fascia.

Vigorous rubbing also helps exfoliate, removing the layer of dead skin cells that you have shed, helping your skin to be healthy and fresh.

Debunked Myth: Many, many medical professionals and laypersons alike will tell you to avoid hot baths, claiming this can damage the skin, as well as cause a plethora of other serious health issues for the mother and baby, including overheating the fetus to dangerous levels.

And so, many women choose to take lukewarm baths and showers, just to be on the safe side.

In fact, women may safely take baths for a longer duration, and hotter temperature, than was commonly believed, according to recent data from health studies.

Neither does this harm the mother's skin or anything else, and certainly doesn't harm the baby. This is a persistent myth in our culture, caused by doctors being over-cautous with theri recommndceations.

Still, no harm was done, as advising women to bathe for a shorter duration and with water set at a lower temperature were just erring on the side of caution.

While it is true that hot water can scald, most women know by feel what they prefer, keeping the temperature at a certain temperature during a shower or bath.

After all, no one chooses to shower or bathe in water that is scalding hot, and that's the only real hazard hot water can present to a pregnant person: A burn.

(Click here for our Epsom Salt bath During PRegnancy page, which has more details on this topic.)

Do Stretch Marks Fade Or Become Less Obvious After Pregnancy?

Stretch marks do fade and become less visible with time.

This happens on its own, but the process can be accelerated and enhanced by things you can do.

How much stretch marks fade, and how long this takes, depends on each woman's personal factors, as well as what she chooses to do to aid this process.

Is There Anything I Can Do Afterwards to Make Stretch Marks Fade and Heal The Deep Pits and Lines Caused By Scarring?

Postnatal Massage Employing Myofascial Technique: A competent postnatal LMT can help you with stretch marks from pregnancy, especially if they're familiar with the the myofascial release technique.

Therapeutic Massage of scar tissue using the Myofasical Technique has been shown to help with healing.

Massage of scarred areas is gentle and soothing and actually helps restore the area by encouraging blood flow and regrowth of tissues.

Besides Postnatal Massage, all of the things listed above that you might have been doing during pregnancy can also help.

Don't give up! You can make a difference with your Stretch Marks. Be patient and persistent and the hard work will pay off. We can't say to way degree you'll experience improvement, but it seems that all women experience some improvement, when they follow these recommendations.

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