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[W430]What Gets Rid Of Stretch Marks

by Wong Darren, Won

Stretch marks are a common condition that plagues almost all women who have gone through pregnancy. In fact, statistics show that around 50 up to 90 percent of pregnant women have had it at one point in their pregnancy.

Other people may also get marks in fact, everybody is at risk for developing it. Non-pregnant women, men, children, teens going through rapid growth , weight lifters, or anyone else who experiences any form of rapid growth or extreme changes in weight may get stretch marks.

Almost all stretch marks develop on a woman's abdomen starting on her sixth month of pregnancy onwards. This is when her belly is stretching in order to accommodate the growing baby inside. Thus, the skin of her belly is pushed to the limits of its elasticity.

Other women also get stretch marks on their upper arms, breasts, lower back, hips, buttocks, and thighs. These unsightly marks are usually found around the areas of the body that store the most amount of fat.

How Do Stretch Marks Arise?

When the layers of skin and the tissue beneath them are pulled and get stretched beyond their maximum capacity for expansion, the collagen structure located deep within them start to break apart. The skin actually tears so microscopic bleeding occurs.

When these tiny wounds heal, scar tissue is formed. This scar is what we commonly call stretch marks. It generally appears as thin lines that may be pink, purple, red or dark brown in color. They vary in length from as tiny as a centimetre or up to 10 centimetres.

Stretch marks are most noticeable during their early stages of formation, but as time goes by they will slowly fade away in color and turn into a few shades lighter than the surrounding skin tone.

Stretch Marks Risk Factors

There are different factors that can increase your chances of developing stretch marks. Genetics is among these factors. Your family history can give you a clue whether or not you'll get marks. For instance, if your sister or mother got them during their pregnancy, you'll be likely to have them yourself. Aside from genetic predisposition, other risk factors for stretch marks include the following:

- Skin color – fair skin tone tend to get stretch marks more.

- Nutrition intake – the proper diet will make the skin healthy and help it stretch better.

- Overall skin health – dry skin is generally less elastic than firm and supple skin.

- Proportion of weight gain – this also includes how rapidly you gained weight.

- Pregnancy concerns – this includes whether you are having a big baby, or have twins or triplets and whether you are naturally small or if you have excessive amounts weight gain.

Practicing preventive measures will help a lot in minimizing the number and severity of marks that you'll develop during and after childbirth. Keeping your skin well-hydrated before or at the start of your pregnancy will help you avoid stretch marks. Using creams and other moisturizing products will also help. You should also eat right and exercise to avoid excessive weight changes and keep your skin toned.

What's FIMAGE? It's short for Fear of Image.

You don't have to look far into a group of young people to see examples of all the things they do to create an image. It's in their clothing, music, language, attitude, hair, make-up, hobbies - even in their choice of friends. Why do people have an image? To keep themselves looking good. Some people spend a lot of time creating and preserving their image. They avoid things that make them look uncool; things that aren't good for their image. They fear damage to their image. That's FIMAGE.

SuperCamp grad Sarah Samuel wrote, "If you have FIMAGE, it means you aren't comfortable doing certain things because of fear of what other people will think of you. You don't have self-confidence and you're always worrying.

As teens go deeper into their exploration of their own FIMAGE, they come to a major realization - by constantly fearing what will happen if they don't maintain their image, life will pass them by. If they want to branch out, try new things, and find out who they really are, they have to let go of their image!

Camper Dominique DeRoche told us, "It was hard at first to let go of FIMAGE, but it made me feel better after I let go, and now I'm not paranoid about how I appear to people."

In our process, teens have the opportunity to do some wacky things in front of their peers to practice letting go of their FIMAGE. In the context of a bunch of fun high-energy games, they can make crazy faces, ridiculous sounds, or fall on the carpet writhing and screaming. Nobody can look cool doing these things - that's the point. They can have the experience of looking uncool in front of their peers and being totally okay with it. We facilitators do it with them, so it's all a big group experience. We take it to the extreme so they know they can take it to the middle on their own. In the end they realize that not only did they not get ridiculed or rejected, they actually had a lot of fun.

Teens speak with a lot of enthusiasm about life beyond FIMAGE. "Letting go of FIMAGE makes your life greater because you let go of the insecurities you have about what others think of you," camper Bre Steinbarth told us. "You open up and let others see you without your mask. I created my own style, and I'm not afraid to act like myself and talk to other people."

"It feels good letting go and being able to be a 'weirdo' and have no one judge you," wrote camper Joe Dugan.

Camper James Ohnoki told us, "It's like taking a 100-pound bag of rice off your shoulders, like finally being free after being chained to a tree."

Camper Jordan Walton said, "I was able to show who I truly was for the first time."

Article Source : Pg. 7

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Both Wong Darren & Jim Hartley are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Wong Darren has sinced written about articles on various topics from Acne Treatment, Hair Care and Acne Treatment. Stretchmark-s.com is a health resource dedicated to providing factual information about . This free resource including topics: ". Wong Darren's top article generates over 60500 views. to your Favourites.

Jim Hartley has sinced written about articles on various topics from Family, self improvement and motivation and Family. SuperCamp is held at eight beautiful colleges across the U.S. throughout the summer. Quantum U takes place at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. More information on our programs is available at. Jim Hartley's top article generates over 18100 views. to your Favourites.