After the appearance of the long-awaited baby, the young mother tries to devote time not only to the child, but also to restore her beauty and figure. Most women are confused by the appearance of excess weight and stretch marks (striae). And if you remove the kilograms gained will help a lot proven methods, then how to get rid of stretch marks on the stomach after childbirth? Here, traditional medicine and cosmetic procedures come to the rescue.
To solve the problem, you need to know what you are dealing with. So what exactly are stretch marks? Stretch marks (striae) - a skin defect, which is formed due to ruptures of the skin layer when it is stretched. They look like burgundy ("fresh") or pale ("old") stripes of different widths. After pregnancy and childbirth, they can appear not only on the stomach, but also on the hips, buttocks and chest.
Reasons for the appearance
- Increased cortisol hormone production during pregnancy
One of the effects of this hormone is the softening of the pubic symphysis (connection of the pubic bones) to facilitate the birth of a child. But this same hormone negatively affects the skin, reducing the production of collagen and elastin. This makes the skin less elastic, prone to stretch marks.
- Natural overstretching of the skin with an increase in the abdomen
The rapid stretching of the skin leads to the fact that with a lack of elasticity, tears occur in the deep layer of the skin. This leads to the appearance of stretch marks, which at first have a burgundy color, and after the striae are overgrown with connective tissue, it is faded pink (lighter than the surrounding skin) color.
Prevention
As you know, stretch marks are easier to prevent than to treat them later. Therefore, the expectant mother needs to think about her skin at the beginning of pregnancy.
Several ways to prevent stretch marks:
- Proper nutrition
To maintain the condition of the skin, it is important to use products that contain components useful for it: nuts, cereals, whole grain bread, oily fish, citrus fruits, cottage cheese.
- Doing sports
Sport tones not only muscles, but also the skin. For the prevention of stretch marks, it is recommended to engage in swimming, pump the press, do morning exercises. Before what period of pregnancy you can perform exercises, you need to check with your doctor.
Those who are not recommended to perform physical exercises can use simple breathing exercises to strengthen their skin: inhalation with retraction of the abdomen for 3-5 seconds, exhalation with protrusion of the abdominal wall also for 3-5 seconds.
- Massage
It is best to do oil massage - this will provide not only an increase in skin tone, but also its nutrition. During pregnancy, it is better to use baby oil, after childbirth - any. Massage should be done with light circular movements so as not to cause premature uterine contractions.
- Wearing a brace and a special bra
Especially designed for pregnancy underwear will not only support the fetus in the correct position, reducing the load on the spine, but also strengthen the abdominal wall. The bandage is worn from the 20th week of pregnancy. After childbirth, a panty belt and a postpartum bandage are usually used (worn up to 6 weeks after delivery. Read about postpartum bandages: how to choose and how to properly tie the stomach).
- Using Cream With Nutrients
Cream for stretch marks is designed specifically to maintain skin elasticity and contains the components necessary for its tone: vitamin E, collagen, elastin, amino acids (Cream for stretch marks: “Nine Months”, “Pregnacare”, “Mustela”, “Vichy”, “Lierac”, “Mama Comfort”, “Mangosteen”. See the top 10 creams for stretch marks).
- Contrast compresses
Skin tone can be increased by changing temperatures. To do this, moisten a terry towel in hot water, squeeze and put on the stomach for half a minute. Then repeat the procedure, but dip the towel already in cold water. Change the compress 5-6 times.
In order to prevent the appearance of stretch marks, it is recommended to use all methods of prevention. Wearing a bandage is considered to be the most effective, as supporting the tummy prevents mechanical stretching of the skin.
What to do if stretch marks nevertheless appeared
If preventive methods have not helped, and stretch marks on your stomach have nevertheless appeared - no need to despair, there are proven methods for eliminating them. First you need to try to remove striae yourself with the help of various cosmetics and "grandmother's recipes." And only if these methods do not help, you can resort to hardware medicine.
We get rid of folk remedies
To get rid of stretch marks at home, recipes of traditional medicine and cosmetics will help:
- Mummy
A cream based on mummy is prepared quickly and simply: 1 gram of mummy needs to be dissolved in 5 grams (1 teaspoon) of warm boiled water, after which the resulting mixture is mixed with a tube of baby cream (no more than 100 g). For this recipe, it is necessary to choose a baby cream, since it contains a minimum of substances that affect the health of a pregnant woman and her baby. Every day after a shower, rub the product into problem areas, the skin should be well steamed. The resulting cream should be stored in the refrigerator.
- Oil (olive, sea buckthorn, almond)
With the help of oils you can do home peeling and at the same time saturate the skin with substances necessary for its strengthening.
A few oil-based peeling recipes:
- add olive coffee or honey to olive oil or any other oil and rub into the skin until light reddening for 10 minutes, then rinse; such peeling can be carried out 2 to 3 times a week after a shower.
- mix 1 cup of salt, sugar and half a glass of oil (you can take vegetable, olive, coconut); rub during the shower with massage circular movements into the skin of problem areas for 5 - 7 minutes, then rinse and apply baby cream.
To increase skin elasticity, it is recommended to apply wheat germ oil (1 teaspoon) mixed with several drops of mandarin, neroli and lavender oil.
- Avocado Peeling Mask
To prepare the mixture, you need 2 tablespoons of oatmeal and the same amount of cosmetic clay, 1 avocado, a tablespoon of any oil. Using a blender or an ordinary fork, all components are ground into gruel, which is applied for half an hour to the skin. The mixture does not need to be rubbed, it must be absorbed, after which its residues can be removed with a swab.
- Aloe and dandelion mask
For this mask, you need to mix dandelion and aloe leaves, crushed in a blender, in equal proportions (100 g each), half a glass of olive (or any other) oil and a little oatmeal until gruel is formed. The mixture is applied to the skin of problem areas 2 times a day.
- Wraps
With stretch marks on the stomach after childbirth, cold and hot wraps with cosmetic clay and essential oils help well. They not only eliminate stretch marks, but also contribute to weight loss.
The mixture is made on the basis of clay, to which warm mineral water is added until gruel is formed.You need to mix only with a wooden object (if there is no special spoon, an ordinary pencil will do). After obtaining the mixture, a few drops of any essential oil are added to it. The mass is applied evenly to the skin prepared by peeling, the body is wrapped with a film (you can take food) for 1 hour. After the procedure, the skin is cleaned with warm water.
To obtain a lasting effect, you need to go through 10 - 12 procedures with a break between wraps in 2 - 3 days.
They also use blue clay and liquid honey, seaweed wraps, pinch massage and aroma bath, scrubs: salt, sugar, coffee.
- We advise you to read: Post-partum rehabilitation exercises - 14 simple exercises
Cosmetology
In the case when traditional medicine did not give the desired effect, it is nevertheless worth resorting to the means of traditional therapy.
Methods for removing stretch marks in cosmetology clinics:
- Mesotherapy
Injections of nutrients (collagen, amino acids, enzymes) are made under the skin. The number of sessions until the visible result is about 10.
- Microdermabrasion
By grinding the smallest particles, the skin relief is leveled, and its damaged layer is eliminated.
- Laser stretch mark removal
The laser beam evaporates the surface layers of the damaged skin, which eliminates stretch marks. After the procedure, crusts can form, which after a while fall off on their own.
- Ozone therapy
The technique is the same as with mesotherapy, but in this case, ozone is injected under the skin, which increases the production of collagen and elastin that is missing on the skin.
- Professional peeling
During this peeling, chemicals are used (glycolic acid or fruit acids), which remove the upper layer of the skin with subsequent regeneration.
- Abdominal plastic
Plastic surgery to remove stretch marks is used only in extreme cases when other methods are ineffective.
Read on:
TOP 10 best creams for stretch marks after childbirth
TOP-10 creams for stretch marks for pregnant women
Despite the widespread belief that it is impossible to remove stretch marks, many people know that striae is not a sentence. You just need to choose the right method of treatment and be patient.
And after childbirth, I was not able to get rid of stretch marks. What I just did not try, I also went to fitness and yoga, drank freshly squeezed juices, but they only turned white and became less noticeable.
I have such stretch marks after the birth of my daughter appeared, not very noticeable, but not morally pleasant. But in everything you can find your pluses - the husband makes a massage with olive oil - very nice))
I got very soft skin from my mother, which responds to the slightest weight loss .... Therefore, I met pregnancy in all arms: adjust the nutrition (now your friends are nuts and grains), moisturizing a light massage of problem areas daily after taking a shower. We bypass the area of the mammary glands. After weaning, visit the endocryologist and he will surely select the suitable and helping drug.Even after the second pregnancy, I manage to cope with these unpleasant stripes)))))))
Stretch marks after childbirth - this is not the worst, but still a significant problem for women. There is an opinion that it is impossible to get rid of them. Is it really? At what age and in what situations do striae appear more often? How to remove stretch marks after childbirth quickly, safely and inexpensively?
Before giving birth, I never trusted any creams, but rarely had to use one single toner. After childbirth, I had to, because there were stretch marks. The pharmacy advised me to buy bio oil cosmetic oil. I’ve been using it for three months already, the stretch marks have narrowed, I hope in a couple of months I’ll generally disappear.
Mesotherapy helped me a lot from small stretch marks on my hips and abdomen, and indeed after 10 sessions the result was obvious. Now I’m thinking of making mesothreads along the contour of the face, otherwise it blurred slightly after pregnancy.
After the birth, the girls also had stretch marks on my stomach, that I just hadn’t tried cream and mummy, massages, etc., nothing helps !!!!! Now I went to the fractional laser, did one procedure and I see what really helps! still do 2 procedures! Well, the result really is, even after the first procedure! I advise everyone!
Cream Clearwin helped me with stretch marks, though I started to smear them during pregnancy. Of course, small stretch marks formed, but I removed them, smeared them after delivery with Clearwin.
I got rid of postpartum stretch marks on my stomach with a single cream during my first pregnancy. During the second pregnancy, I used the same cream to prevent postpartum
stretch marks. And they did not arise. I know a means of preventing and combating postpartum stretch marks !!!
In general, it all depends on the skin - someone will not be helped by any means, but someone may not use anything at all and everything will be ok. My skin is elastic, but just in case I used the emulsion to prevent La Cree stretch marks, I like their means.