Many, many women get stretch marks during pregnancy and for a large number this is the first time they have had to face stretch marks.
Are you about to become a new mom? already are? then you probably know what me mean. Right?
Pregnancy stretch marks usually occur in the later months of pregnancy as the abdomen gets larger and heavier and the breasts are swelling to prepare for milk production. Since extra fat is stored by your body at this time you can also find that pregnancy stretch marks appear on the bottom, thighs and arms as well.
You are more likely to get pregnancy stretch marks if you gain weight rapidly, if you are carrying twins or more babies, if you are carrying a large baby, or if you have lots of amniotic fluid. Given that rapid weight gain while pregnant is almost unavoidable for many women, it is clear why so many get pregnancy stretch marks.
During pregnancy hormones soften the collagen in ligaments all over the body so that tissues in the pelvis can stretch in childbirth to accommodate the baby. Since this process is not confined to the pelvic ligaments, effect of skin collagen softens too, which means that stretch marks can form more easily than normally.
There is considerable anecdotal evidence that regular massage with moisturising creams or lotions, for example, cocoa-butter, helps keep pregnancy related stretch marks at bay.
Incidently. there has been recent research to show that there might be a link between the strength of collagen in your body and the strength of pelvic floor muscles, so if you are getting a lot of pregnancy stretch marks it might be worth paying particular attention to pelvic floor exercises.
Note that treatments using products such as Tretinoin can NOT be used during pregnancy.
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