A lot of temporary changes can occur in and on your body during pregnancy; however most of these effects disappear when your baby is born. Stretch marks, on the other hand, are tears in your skin that will scar and remain visible for forever. They will initially appear as reddish pink lines on your body which turn into silvery white scars, but with the proper prevention techniques, you may be able to reduce the visibility of them or eliminate them completely.

Control Your Weight Gain

Stretch marks occur because weight has been put on too quickly and your skin can’t expand fast enough to support your larger size. By sticking to a healthy diet and getting regular exercise, you can put your baby weight on more slowly and avoid gaining the extra weight your body doesn’t need.

These marks can appear on your thighs, hips, buttocks, abdomen, breasts, and arms and sometimes you can’t always control where you gain additional weight. With a baby growing in your womb, expansion in your abdomen cannot be prevented. Being aware of the weight you are gaining and taking steps to slow the stretching of your skin can help to diminish these unwanted marks.

Keep Your Skin Hydrated

Keeping your skin soft and supple will allow it to stretch more safely. Dry skin will be prone to ripping, so moisturize often and keep yourself hydrated. Using skin creams that contain vitamin E and alpha-hydroxy will keep your skin stay pliable as well assist in the healing of marks that may already be forming. The use of these lotions will continue to reduce the sight of any stretch marks that occur so keep applying them even once your weight gain has stopped.

Massage Your Skin

Stimulating the circulation in your skin can also help to reduce tearing from weight gain. By bringing more blood to the surface, your skin will be healthier and less likely to develop unwanted marks, so be sure to massage it whenever possible. Your stretching skin may also become sensitive and itchy as it expands and scratching can lead to more stretch marks so try to massage it when you feel any discomfort.

It will be much easier to prevent stretch marks before they occur as oppose to getting rid of the ones that have already formed. Any marks that do form can be helped with the proper creams, but knowing stretch marks can happen before any weight gain has started is the first step in prevention.