Free Article: Prevent Stretch Marks during Pregnancy

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Advice for Preventing Stretch Marks during Pregnancy
By M. A. Fulmar

If you are a soon-to-be-mother, there is nothing as exciting as the nine months that you are carrying your child for. Knowing that your body is nurturing and slowly bringing to life a child is an amazing feeling. But, along with this delightful experience, there also comes the aftermath of physical changes on your body- and stretch marks are one of them.

You can almost guarantee that you will get at least a few stretch marks on your body during pregnancy, but there are ways to help prevent stretch marks during pregnancy, if you are determined to not have them. Before you figure out ways to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy, it should be best to first know what causes these marks.

What Stretch Marks Are

Your skin is made up of collagen and elastin, two types of skin tissue that help to keep the skin stretchy and flexible. Basically, stretch marks occur the skin tissue is stretching so much that it tears, thus creating streaks reflecting this stretch. This occurs due to weight gain either during pregnancy or excessive weight gain. The amounts of stretch marks you get depend quite a bit upon genetics. The elasticity of your skin is in your genes. If your mother or father got stretch marks after gaining weight, then chances are you are susceptible to them as well.

How to Prevent Stretch Marks

Physicians say that almost 9 out of 10 pregnant women get stretch marks. The areas where this occurs are the thighs, hips, buttocks, and breasts; the areas that gain the most weight during pregnancy. While some women choose to allow there skin to stretch out, showing their pride in carrying a baby, other women want to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy as much as they can. Most physicians will agree that while no process is a guarantee, there are a few ways to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy. One simple way is to keep your pregnancy weight gain between the normal 25-35 pounds. Any weight gain past the normal amount will cause stretch marks to appear even more.

Another option to keep your skin healthy and elastic by taking Vitamin E, drinking a lot of water, and eating right during pregnancy. Cocoa butter is also believed by women to keep your skin soft and supple. The above are a few ways to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy, but again, physicians agree that there is not surefire way to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy from completely occurring, but there is a way to slow the appearance of them.

Author Details:
M. A. Fulmar, copywriter for various websites about skin care, cosmetic surgery, cosmetics and all areas of medical aesthetics.

Article Source: Directory of Free Articles

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