Striae gravidarum, or as most of us know them, stretch marks, are the marks that appear as stripes, occurring from the skin stretching beyond its average capacity, or from stretching at a rapid rate. They typically appear on weight-gaining body parts, like the chest, the stomach, the hips, the buttocks, and even the thighs.
Many women commonly develop stretch marks during pregnancy, due to hormonal changes which affect the skin during the gestation period. Stretch marks are completely normal, with their appearance ranging from the colours red, purple to silver and can be deep, shallow, thin or wide. They can appear differently for every woman!
Why Do Stretch Marks Happen, And Why Can They Be So Bad During Pregnancy?
Most women who are pregnant will develop stretch marks during their pregnancies. While some women will develop their tiger stripes late in the third trimester, others develop their stretch marks much earlier.
Genetics plays a huge role. The genetic makeup of your skin is passed down to you so if your mum, sister, grandmum or other family members are prone to stretch marks, chances are you will be candidate for stretch marks also.
The changes your body goes through during pregnancy are many, some are temporary, and some will be permanent.
Not only can stretch marks be visually unappealing to some, they can also be itchy and painful. Whether you keep them or reduce them is a matter of personal choice.
Despite genetic factors and the hormonal shifts that can cause stretch marks, there are a few methods you can choose to help prevent, minimise the severity and reduce stretch marks. So let's answer some commonly asked questions and take a look at ways to minimise stretch marks.
Do Stretch Mark Creams Really Work?
Stretch mark creams are extremely popular when it comes to minimising stretch marks. But can they be trusted? How do you choose a stretch mark cream when there are so many available on the market?
It’s all in the ingredients!
The effectiveness of a stretch mark cream depends on its ingredients and formula. The best stretch mark cream should have natural ingredients well known to support, boost collagen production & nourish your skin such as Vitamin E, Vitamin C (Vitamin E & C work best hand in hand), Shea Butter, Jojoba Oil, Hydrolyzed Collagen, and other organic extracts. They should also have a nourishing formula that moisturises and softens your skin, keeping it supple and elastic. A cream with the appropriate amount of collagen boosting ingredients will be a powerhouse to help soothe & regenerate the skin.
Our Stretch Mark Butter comes in sustainable packing and is made from 100% natural ingredients. With no nasties, our butter is an excellent option to help prevent, reduce and remove stretch marks.
The success of any stretch mark cream will depend on the time you start using it. When applied before stretch marks start emerging or to fresh stretch marks, creams should produce better results as you’re nourishing your skin by giving it exactly what it needs to stretch from the very beginning, thus reducing the severity of stretch mark scar tissue within the skin.
Stretch mark creams work at different paces for different women. Naturally, should you use a cream daily from the start of your pregnancy, you will tend to yield faster & better results.
How To Prevent Stretch Marks During Pregnancy
If preventing stretch marks is important to you - by the time you discover you are pregnant, hormonal changes are well and truly underway. This is the best time to begin preparing your skin to help avoid & minimise the severity of stretch marks during your pregnancy. Early prevention like this supports your skin whilst going through hormonal changes & rapid phases of stretching you ensure during pregnancy.
Here are our top 7 tips we recommend to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy.
1. Stay Hydrated - Drink Plenty Of Water And Other Fluids:
High water intake is essential to moisturise your skin from the inside out, to help maintain its elasticity. Hydrated skin is less prone to drying out which is a key factor when it comes to stretch marks appearing. Dry skin is the result of a disturbed skin barrier, which can lead to itchiness, irritation & sore stretch marks.
Caffeinated drinks are dehydrating and diuretic, so if you can’t live without your coffee kick, ensure you balance out your caffeine intake with plenty of water and other healthy beverages.
Fruit juice & coconut water are another excellent way to get your daily dose of hydration.
2. Keep Moisturizing Regularly
Moisturising your skin goes a long way when limiting the severity of stretch marks. Ensure that you hydrate your skin regularly, especially around the chest, stomach, hips, and thighs, or wherever stretch marks are more likely to form. This will help keep your skin elastic and supple, preventing your skin from drying out.
Our natural Stretch Mark Butter is packed with ingredients to help support your skin with deeply hydrating, nourishing & moisturising goodness.
3. Eat a nutrient-rich diet:
Your skin needs collagen to remain elastic and to avoid over stretching. Increasing your intake of citrus fruits & berries high in Vitamin C, zinc and omega 3 fatty acid-rich foods like nuts and fish can also help reduce inflammation & irritation of the skin.
4. Care For Your Skin Daily:
Having a daily skincare routine to keep your skin hydrated at all times can help boost your results. Using gentle & natural products on your skin, taking lukewarm showers & avoiding oil based products can help supercharge your skin’s care routine.
5. Exfoliate Stretch Mark-Prone Areas:
Pregnant women should gently exfoliate their stretch mark-prone areas weekly to remove dead skin cells. This facilitates collagen production & the penetration of your moisturiser and lotion into your skin.
6. Massage Your Skin:
Whenever you are applying any product to your skin, such as a moisturiser or a body lotion, massage it into your skin for a few minutes. This step is essential for improving blood circulation which gives you that gorgeous pregnancy glow!
7. Apply A Stretch Mark Cream
With so many creams on the market, it can be hard to decide which cream to use. We formulated a completely natural, affordable, and power-packed product, using key ingredients well known for their role in helping support the skin, minimising and reducing the appearance of stretch marks - Mumma Bear's Stretch Mark Butter can be used pre pregnancy, during pregnancy & postpartum.
Our product has collagen & collagen boosting ingredients, is high in vitamin C and vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, jojoba oil, shea butter, and many other organic ingredients that keep your skin smooth and supple whilst working hard to sooth, calm the skin, and fade out stretch marks as they appear.
Apply the cream once to twice daily to your belly, chest, bottom, and thighs or to any other areas prone to stretch marks. For best results, use straight after your daily shower. This is when your skin is already holding the most moisture - and is the best time to lock it in & supercharge your skins hydration!
Want to know more? Check out our Australian designed organic stretch mark butter.
How To Reduce Stretch Marks After Pregnancy
No matter how early (or late) you start your stretch mark reduction journey, it is still important to support your skin postpartum. Your hormones will have gone from the highest they have ever been, down to the lowest they have ever been in a very short amount of time. This can wreak havoc on your skin’s condition. Here are a couple of things you can do to reduce stretch marks and support your skin after pregnancy
1. Stay Active & eat well:
Only once you have been given the all clear by your health team - slowly resume physical exercises. Keeping active helps fight fatigue, repairs your skin through healthy blood flow & circulation. Being active & eating well will help restore energy, support the postpartum hormonal and physical changes your body goes through and will help rejuvenate your skin.
2. Be Patient:
Reducing already set-in stretch marks can be a lengthy process depending on your current skin health. Be patient & consistent.
The simplest way to minimise stretch marks during & after pregnancy is to lead a healthy lifestyle while giving your skin a little extra love, afterall, you deserve to add a little self care to your routine.
Always remember that stretch marks are natural and happen to almost every woman. So flaunt them off proudly or don't! After all, it's your choice, Mumma :)