What Pregnancy Does To Your Body and Skin

Despite the belief that pregnancy rewards women with a rosy, glowing complexion, the truth is that it plays havoc on skin tone and condition. Saggy skin after pregnancy, dark spots on skin and stretch marks are all common problems. There are things you can do to lessen or treat all of these.

Excess Skin

Skin over the belly has to stretch a lot to accommodate a baby. Post-pregnancy saggy skin occurs because it doesn’t shrink and spring back into place the moment the baby is born.

Reduce the risk

Weight gain in pregnancy is inevitable, but ignore anyone who encourages you to ‘eat for two’. A healthy weight gain for most woman is around 25–35 pounds. Gentle exercise that keeps muscles toned during pregnancy makes it easier to get back into shape after the birth.

How to tighten loose skin after pregnancy

Be patient with your body! Expecting to regain your old figure after a few weeks, or even months is unrealistic. Exercises that target the transverse muscles will help. restore muscle tone. If your skin is still loose after long months, laser treatment to stimulate collagen and elastic fibres can be helpful. A tummy tuck cosmetic procedure will give dramatic instant results, but it’s worth trying less extreme methods first.

Melasma

What is Melasma?

This is a condition more common in women than men, characterised by dark patches on the skin, commonly on the face. It’s caused by a combination of genetic predisposition, hormones and sun exposure. When melasma happens in pregnant women it’s sometimes referred to as a pregnancy mask.

Prevention and Treatments

The most effective preventative measure is to limit sun exposure. nyone who’s had one incident of melasma will be vulnerable to it reoccurring in the future. Any pregnant woman who’s had the condition in the past should use a good quality, high SPF factor sunscreen.

Many of the best ways to get rid of dark spots are unsuitable for use during pregnancy, so expectant mothers may have to treat pregnancy spotting after the baby is born.

Depigmenting agents — such as hydroquinone can be effective, these can be bought over the counter at weak strengths or obtained under prescription at stronger ones.

Prescription retinoid creams — Are sometimes used alongside hydroquinone but definitely not during pregnancy or while nursing.

Physical interventions — Including microdermabrasion or laser treatments can also be effective.

Stretch Marks

What causes stretch marks?

Stretch marks happen when your body grows faster than your skin can expand. The elastic fibres of the skin break resulting in characteristic stripes or lines, most commonly found on the belly and breasts but sometimes also on the thighs, upper arms or buttocks.

Can stretch marks be prevented?

It’s impossible to entirely prevent stretch marks, and some people are naturally more predisposed to them than others. There are things you can do to make them less likely:

Eat well rather than eat lots!- Keeping weight gain within normal limits means skin doesn’t has to stretch so much or so fast.

Stay hydrated — The best way to care for your skin is to drink lots of water to keep it hydrated and elastic.

Creams and oils don’t help much — Studies suggest that moisturisers have little if any effect on stretch marks. They will sooth the itchiness that goes alongside rapidly growing skin, so by all means use your favourite lotion or potion, just don’t expect it to remove or prevent stretch marks!

How to cure stretch marks

Stretch marks after pregnancy will fade over time and some women embrace them as honour marks of motherhood. If this works for you that’s great. If you do want to treat them there are a couple of things that have been shown to be effective.

Topical creams — Such as retinoid cream, once again not during pregnancy or while nursing.

Microdermabrasion — Crystals are blown onto the skin, gently removing the top layer and encouraging the growth of more elastic skin underneath.

Laser treatment — Laser light can be used to encourage the production of collagen and elastic fiber. There are several laser treatments available and different sorts have been shown to be helpful in treating early or more established stretch marks.