Stretch Mark Prevention

Maintaining the health of your skin is one of the most important aspects of preventing stretch marks. Below we’ve listed out some quick tips to help you keep your skin looking its best, which will help prevent stretch marks from forming at the same time.

• Drink at least eight 8 oz. glasses of water per day. If you drink a lot of coffee, tea, or soda, you’ll need to drink a few more glasses, because caffeine is a diuretic. (Which basically means it makes you go to the bathroom quicker than you normally would) Water is an important part of bodily health. It keeps your metabolism on track, helps with digestion, along with many other important bodily functions. Water also helps to keep your skin elastic, which helps reduce the formation of stretch marks.

• Exercise regularly. A consistent workout program keeps the entire body healthy, which in turn, will enhance the health of your skin. Exercise also cuts down on your chances of any rapid weight gain that may occur, due to overeating, poor eating choices or stressful parts of your life.

• Eat healthy. While eating healthy isn’t the easiest thing to do, making a healthier lifestyle change is highly recommended, rather then simply going on a diet. Foods that contain Vitamins A, C, and D, protein, and zinc are exceptionally healthy for the skin. You should also be getting plenty of variety within your diet, including lean meats, high fiber and a decent amount of carbohydrates.

• If you are pregnant, try not to gain too much weight. Although of women use this time of their life to completely let go. Believe it or not, plenty of women stay very fit during their pregnancy. An optimal weight gain for most pregnant women is between 25 and 35 pounds. Gaining weight slowly over the course of the pregnancy, instead of a sudden burst, decreases your chances of getting stretch marks.

• Even though they can sometimes itch, scratching stretch marks isn’t a good idea. Gently massaging the area with lotion is much better for your skin, and also takes care of the itchiness. Scratching pulls and stretches the outermost layers of the skin, damaging the area further. Massaging also increases circulation, helping to stimulate new cell growth.

• Use a high-quality stretch mark ointment or cream consistently, and more than once daily. These creams have ingredients that enhance the health of the skin, which make it less likely that you’ll get stretch marks. A great time to be using a stretch mark cream is during the course of your pregnancy. They can also be used for effectively treating your current stretch marks, too.