by Jaime Roxann Wright

Created on: April 16, 2008   Last Updated: April 17, 2008

Pregnancy Skincare: How to avoid Stretchmarks

So you are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, but you have many concerns including the dreadedstretchmark issue. The first thought in most mom-to-be's minds is how do I avoid stretchmarks when I gain weight. Ask around and you may get differing opinions, such as "stretchmarks are the badge of a woman", as if they were nature's scarification ritual. Or you may hear "all women get stretchmarks at one point in their lives", which is to suggest they must be lived with regardless, and finally you may hear that "you can avoid them if you are diligent". Instead of spending your life horribly embarrassed by them, there are many things you can do to avoid stretchmarks.

There are many products on the market that you can subscribe to that can help reduce the appearance of marks post pregnancy. Many of them have chemicals that may be harmful to the fetus, you should check with your doctor first before trying to apply them during the pregnancy. These products, most of which can be found at your local drugstore, are never 100% effective so be warned. MEDERMA is highly recommended product, though has been found to cause an itching sensation. There is SCARZONE, and the internet faves BARMON, which offers a money-back guarantee and TriLastin, which is used as a preventative. These may be great products but they are a result of reactive measures. The best method however is to be proactive. This means preventing the damage instead of trying to repair it.

Let's examine your daily habits of skincare. If you sometimes put on lotion or you maybe scrub your face with an exfoliant then you need to increase your usage from now on, if you do not, this is a great time to start. Keeping your skin healthy is the first step to avoiding stretchmarks. The first thing to do is to exfoliate. You need to rid the skin of the dead cells and dry layers so that new and healthier skin can grow. Use any method of exfoliant cream or soap combined with a loofah or mesh scrubber to take of the dead skin. Using a washcloth is not very effective, it tends to hold soap, which causes a film to stay on the skin which prevents the sloughing of the old. Bathing in a nice hot bath or shower opens up your pores and will allow the next step, which is moisturizing the skin, to really take affect. Moisturizing is the key here when it comes to skin care. During pregnancy, it is a necessity. Immediately after toweling off you should apply lotion to your skin liberally

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