All about Stretch Marks during Pregnancy

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Author: Louise Lundgren

Article source: http://www.articledeshboard.com/. Used with author's permission.

During pregnancy over half of women will develop stretch marks. Otherwise known as striae gravidarum, stretch marks appear like streaks on the skins surface, and may be vary in color depending on your natural skin color. Women with lighter skin tend to develop stretch marks that are pinkish in color and darker skinned women have stretch marks that are lighter than the surrounding skin. Stretch marks usually appear on the abdomen during pregnancy but can also appear on the buttocks, hips, breasts and thighs.
The causes of Stretch Marks
Stretch marks form when your skin is stretched rapidly as it does during pregnancy. Stretch marks usually develop during the later trimesters of pregnancy although some women get them as soon as their bellies start getting bigger.
The skin tissue that supports the skin and helps it to stretch tears and this is how stretch marks are formed. They thus are a sign of separation of collagen away from the skin when it tears. Stretch marks aren't harmful or painful and tend to fade over time.
Many women believe that using lotions and creams help prevent stretch marks on their pregnant belly. However realistically speaking, the number of stretch marks you get depends on your skin elasticity. Genetics plays the major role on how elsastic your skin is. You need to find out if your mother got bad stretch marks during pregnancy, if she did, more prone to stretch marks than other women.
Additionally the more weight you gain during your term the more you will get stretch marks. Typically skin is elastic and can stretch quite a lot, but changes that occur in pregnant women can be very drastic. These rapid fluctuations of weight combined with skin stretching can result in stretch marks.
Women who are expecting more than one bundle of joy, tend to grow larger and thus are more likely to get stretch marks. Women who gain a lot of weight or are carrying big babies are more likely to gain weight. Preventing Stretch Marks
The optimal thing to do to minimize the risk aside from using any stretch mark cream select is gaining the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy. Between 25 to 34 pounds is recommended. If you gain much more than this can cause you to develop more stretch marks.
Considering the miracle of life they bring into the world most women can overlook stretch marks. For most women the small annoyance even the nastiest stretch marks are well worth the joys of bringing a newborn baby into the world. Do only what you can during pregnancy to maintain an appropriate weight and don't worry too much about stretch marks. A lot of women wear them with pride, a 'war wound' or 'badge of honor' related to their pregnancy.

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