Stretch marks commonly appear due to pregnancy in which 50 to 90% of women will develop them before delivery. Experts mostly believe that you can be prone to stretch marks due to hormones brought about by a pregnancy. Remember, skin changes during pregnancy are common. And there are things that you can do to maintain the health of your skin.
Basically, these hormones bring more water into the skin in which it relaxes and makes it easier to tear if stretched. Although this remains to be debatable, there’s a huge number of pregnant women who observe stretch marks during their 6th or 7th month of being pregnant.
Things You Need To Know About Stretch Marks
- Stretch marks are small tears in the supporting layers of skin tissue, which has been pulled tightly to its limit during pregnancy.
- According to some studies, the rapid weight gain during pregnancy is a great contributor to stretch marks.
- Genetics has proven to be a factor for the susceptibility of a pregnant woman to get stretch marks. Thus, you can develop this if your mom had them during her pregnancy.
- Fair-skinned women are prone to get stretch marks than darker-skinned mothers during pregnancy. Perhaps this is because they are not that visible on dark skin.
Ways To Prevent Pregnancy Stretch Marks
Good news for pregnant women because they can easily prevent the appearance of stretch marks during pregnancy. Here are some easy tips to achieve that.
- Gelatin – Including gelatin in your daily diet can increase the formation of collagen in your skin to improve its elasticity. Thus, it is essential to improve the elastic condition of the skin during pregnancy to avoid stretch marks.
- Hydration – Take note that pregnancy can increase the volume of blood in the body, as you build a big water sack for the baby. Keeping yourself hydrated can reduce the appearance of stretch marks during pregnancy.
- Coconut Oil – The use of coconut oil lotion would keep your belly moist, which is crucial as it gets bigger. This can help nourish your skin, as it is full of saturated fatty acids.
- Vitamin C – You may want to reduce free radical damage with the consumption of vitamin C. This is because free radicals consume elastin and collagen and vitamin C helps in the formation of cartilage and collagen.
- Zinc – The lack of zinc intake is one of the possible reasons why people get stretch marks. Collagen production uses zinc, which is a natural trace mineral with antioxidant properties.
- Shea Butter or Cocoa Butter – Two of the greatest emollients are shea butter and cocoa butter. Thus, they are best at keeping the skin hydrated and moist in order to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy.
