When there is rapid weight gain, the skin stretches too fast and acquires unsightly marks. Known to dermatologists as striae, these stretch marks begin as red or purple blemishes that turn to silvery white lines on the skin on the areas of the body that grow too quickly.

How Can You Avoid Stretch Marks During Pregnancy?

During pregnancy the woman's body undergoes major changes, and avoiding stretch marks during pregnancy is not always easy. It is not easy and cannot be done by everyone. Many women find that avoiding stretch marks during pregnancy is not possible even if they take great care. While there is a great chance that women acquire stretch marks during their pregnancy, very few women actually succeed in completely avoiding stretch marks during pregnancy.

The most important task to keep in mind is to moisturize the area that is likely to stretch too fast. Preventing stretch marks during pregnancy is possible to some extent if areas such as the stomach, breasts, buttocks, arms and thighs are moisturized on a constant basis. Products such as cocoa butter, shea butter and oils should be applied a minimum of twice a day to minimize the possibility of stretch marks.

Another idea that can help in avoiding stretch marks during pregnancy is to ensure that weight gained during pregnancy is within the limits set by your obstetrician. If one is able to control weight gained during this time to these recommended levels, the stomach is likely to be the only area that grows, while the rest of the body will gain only smaller amounts of weight. This will contain stretch marks, ensuring that they are limited to the stomach region.

However there are many women that are able to maintain their weight at levels recommended by their doctors but still cannot contain stretch marks to the stomach area, it is not possible for all women to do this. While it is inevitable that you will gain weight during you pregnancy, a slower increase kept within limits allows the skin the needed time to adjust to the growth of the belly, instead of a rapid increase in weight.

One of the important keys to avoiding stretch marks during pregnancy is to keep skin moisturized and supple. Along with this approach another way is to keep weight gain at a lower but healthy level. After all these precautions if they still appear, a moisturizer is recommended, in the hope that the stretch marks will eventually disappear.