What stretch marks look like at first

As time goes by, some pregnant women find that their abdomens start to grow and stretch marks begin to appear. Seeing the stretch marks around my belly does make me depressed. Why do pregnant women get stretch marks? What should you do if you have stretch marks? Next, we will answer your questions and solve your doubts.

1. Growth hormone changes plus uterine enlargement are the culprits of stretch marks

During pregnancy, most pregnant women experience changes in hormonal levels, which causes their skin elasticity to become poorer. In addition, the baby in the uterus gradually grows larger, and the tensile force on the abdominal skin increases. Over time, the elastic fibers of the stretched skin will rupture, and then purple or dark red, irregular, flat or prominent patterns will appear. To put it simply, for most pregnant women, changes in female hormones and the growing uterus are the culprits for their stretch marks.

At this point I have to remind you that in order to slow down the rate of abdominal expansion and reduce the appearance of stretch marks, pregnant mothers should be careful not to gain weight too quickly, otherwise the bigger the abdomen, the larger the stretch marks may be.

Second, the mother's genes are inherited or she is relatively young, which may also make her very likely to grow

Some pregnant mothers may say: That's not right? Everyone's abdomen is pushed up, why are some longer and some not?

There are actually genetic inheritance and age factors involved. Studies have found that if the expectant mother did not have stretch marks during pregnancy, the expectant mother is less likely to develop them during pregnancy. Also, we generally believe that the younger the pregnant mother is, the stronger the skin's resistance and resilience should be, but scientific research shows that the younger the pregnant mother is, the more likely she is to get stretch marks.

3. Stretch marks may gradually disappear after giving birth, but most of them cannot be completely removed

Whether these ugly stretch marks can disappear is something that pregnant mothers are very concerned about.

Once stretch marks appear, it is not easy to completely remove them. After giving birth, although the uterus has been repaired, the broken dermis cannot be cross-linked again. The broken part will be replaced by tissue with more fiber components. This is the fibrosis process, which is also a scar. Since there are no melanocytes in scars, the stretch marks of pregnant women will gradually turn silver after giving birth, and the color will gradually disappear.

For some pregnant women with fair skin, stretch marks will gradually become less noticeable and eventually become basically invisible. But for pregnant women with darker skin, this noticeable texture may last a lifetime.

4. Reasonable ways to alleviate the growth and development of stretch marks

Some pregnant mothers may think: If it cannot be eliminated, then the only option is prevention.

In fact, stretch marks cannot be prevented. Products such as vegetable oils and cocoa butter that claim to prevent stretch marks have actually been proven to be ineffective. Although retinoic acid is effective, it has a teratogenic effect on the fetus and is not recommended for use during pregnancy.

Pregnant mothers can only slow down the growth of stretch marks by controlling the rate of weight gain during pregnancy to reduce the rupture of the skin fiber layer.

Although the existence of stretch marks is unsightly, pregnant mothers are still expected to deal with it with a positive attitude. After all, it has no effect on the body's endocrine system and will not worsen, so don't be afraid of stretch marks.