I am pregnant and want to know if anyone has had any luck with skin care for stopping stretchmarks? I have heard that some are not safe to use and can harm my baby but I am so confused by which ones are ok and actually work to prevent stretchmarks, as I happily grow into my 9 month bump!

I am pregnant and want to know if anyone has had any luck with skin care for stopping stretchmarks? I have heard that some are not safe to use and can harm my baby but I am so confused by which ones are ok and actually work to prevent stretchmarks, as I happily grow into my 9 month bump!

Years ago an ex-girlfriend used vaseline. Everday after a shower or bath and before going to bed. Just the regular petroleum jelly and it produced great results. 2 kids and the barest hint of stretch marks. However, it could have been just her luck that she had strong(?) skin and looked younger than her years.

TheWalkingMan

Im not lucky enough to have been pregnant yet, but a friend of mine swore by Palmer's cocoa butter formula. Very heavy and oily massage cream, which in a way would be similar to vaseline i imagine, but with a better smell. Other women have also advocated the use of Palmers formula. Just make sure its the really heavy massage butter in the tub one and/or the one specifically for pregnancy and stretch marks, as they do different varieties, including a light lotion.

Grats on your pregnancy!

I'm a male, and I don't really know about preventing stretch marks, but don't worry about them too much, we still love you. We only care about how you and the baby are.

I'm a male, and I don't really know about preventing stretch marks, but don't worry about them too much, we still love you. We only care about how you and the baby are.

That's what we tell ourselves, but, in our heart of hearts, it's not true.

Use vitamin E cream several times a day. No stretch marks.

Edited January 30, 200917 yr by Sir Burr

I don't know about you mate, but in all honesty I couldn't give a flying one if my lass has got stretch marks. If it really does make that much of a difference to you, I think you need to have a quiet word.

Howdy, I have no idea how to prevent stretchmarks. However, I wanted to throw out a thought that, even if the cream doesn't work for the stretchmarks, the Thai hospitals offer laser treatment for stretchmarks, and it's really cheap. I went to Yan Hee hospital in Thonburi (near my house) to get some freckles removed by laser, and saw the poster for laser removal of stretchmarks. I don't recall what it was but I doubt it is more than $100 usd. It's not an invasive procedure either (from what I know) they just blast the top of your skin with a laser (though that ain't pleasant either). It's a free consult, so might as well ask if the cream doesn't work.

And for what it's worth, if you were my wife, I wouldn't care about the stretchmarks. But then again, I don't think women want to be beautiful for their spouse, they want to be beautiful for themself.

CharlotteKent, congrates on your wonderful news.

As a mother of two I can relate my experience.

Durring my pragnancies in the '70s , I tended to feel itching around my stomach all days long, it was getting worse as the days went by. I always rubbed it on my skin with baby oil and skin lotion. Most important: Never scratch (learned from Thai elderly) around your stomach.

The result: My skin on my tummy is smooth and stretch free. May be it's genetic or from taking good care of my skin during pragnancy.

My mum swore by carrot oil, my best friend - almond oil. Used to be able to get both from The Body Shop. Although quite expensive in BKK - a little goes a long way...

Howdy, I have no idea how to prevent stretchmarks. However, I wanted to throw out a thought that, even if the cream doesn't work for the stretchmarks, the Thai hospitals offer laser treatment for stretchmarks, and it's really cheap. I went to Yan Hee hospital in Thonburi (near my house) to get some freckles removed by laser, and saw the poster for laser removal of stretchmarks. I don't recall what it was but I doubt it is more than $100 usd. It's not an invasive procedure either (from what I know) they just blast the top of your skin with a laser (though that ain't pleasant either). It's a free consult, so might as well ask if the cream doesn't work.

And for what it's worth, if you were my wife, I wouldn't care about the stretchmarks. But then again, I don't think women want to be beautiful for their spouse, they want to be beautiful for themself.

gotta say sub, you sound like a really lovely man

Hey! Congrats on your pregnancy, I am 3 months pregnant and have had 8 girlfriends all use this product called belli skin care, Elasticity Belly Oil that helps to prevent stretchmarks. Their doctor told them it was the safest to use, then I saw it on a current affair the other night as well. I read up all about in on their website and it talks heaps about what is safe, really interesting. None of my friends got ANY stretchmarks at all and swear by this for stopping stretch marks. I have only just started using it but so far so good! I ordered all of their other skin care for pregnancy as well from belliskincare website and LOVING it. Wish you all the best for the months ahead, we are together in the skin stretch J don't forget to join the VIP thing on their site before you order, you get a discount that way, i forgot myself but definitely worth it you get 15% off. Good luck.

Errrrr sales?

I am pregnant and want to know if anyone has had any luck with skin care for stopping stretchmarks? I have heard that some are not safe to use and can harm my baby but I am so confused by which ones are ok and actually work to prevent stretchmarks, as I happily grow into my 9 month bump!

My lady laid on her back after the birth, placed a pot/urn full of hot water on her stomach/pelvic area....she did this every day for about an hour...for weeks......doesn't have stretch marks (if this was the reason...to tighten everything up)....perhaps an old Thai way???......gave her an hour of relaxation too.

Errrrr sales?

Cracks me up..such an obvious sales pitch. Did they really think that sounded genuine?

I guess the key thing seems be to make sure you use some kind of heavy oil or wax to keep the skin supple. If it were me, id take every advice given and do a whole cocktail of combinations 555!

Bio oil is a very good product, used to clears scars & prevent stretch marks etc. Not cheap but very very good

Cocoa oil is what I have always heard. Congrats on the upcoming birth.

Cocoa butter is supposed to be one of the better and cheaper alternatives out there. There is a problem with it though. My wife had morning sickness for what seemed like the entire pregnancy. Its very smelly and I would bring it out and try to rub some on and she then was in the bathroom vomiting.

What we have been told and this seems to be proven out so far is that its mostly genetic, keeping the skin hydrated is supposed to help lessen the marks, but if your skin is prone to having stretch marks then you will have them no matter how much butter you put on.

Also once you have them, you have them. The laser sessions work better for light skinned women and not for women with darker skin.

Went to a plastic surgeon and they gave us the options (tummy tuck, relocation of the belly button) which are quite grizzly so I wont go into detail but its expensive, very painful, and because this is major surgery there is always the chance of dying under the anesthetic.

Lets face it, its natural, and they fade, go into the pregnancy with doing what you can, but accepting what comes your way.

Look at your child's sleeping face and then look at your belly and accept that this is what it took to get you to where you are now.

gotta say sub, you sound like a really lovely man

Why thank you SBK, I appreciate that!

And, according to Boo, I am also very modest to boot.

I wished all men were so considered as these male forum-members!!!!

About time we got our recognition! We are a considerate (and sexy) lot!

modest too

Sorry OP, no probs with stretch marks after the birth of my son. I wouldn't go as far as laser surgery tho if I had them!!! You are a mother, it's nature after all!!!

Sir Burr's vitamin E recommendation is good. Jojoba is another one as it is very similar to our own skin oil. It's really a wax, but in liquid form at room temp.

Here you can check out all several different blends for making your own balms/butters for both you and baby.

Make your own cosmetics If you aren't in Bangkok or other big city

some of the ingredients might be hard to find.

The one that has the most common ingredients is this one. My first belly butter The only ingredient that i've been trying to find for other things is borax, it's a thickener....different than boric acid.

Beachbunny

Hi,

I used to have pretty bad stretch marks and red scars around my belly region ever since I gave birth to my three kids.I had tried Vitamin E oil and cocoa butter which a number of people had recommended but unfortunately it didn't seem to work too well. My Doctor had even suggested that I go for a Tummy Tuck. I then recently read an article about a lady who supposedly got rid of her stretch marks using a particular cream. I tried it and it worked really well. It took a number of weeks but my stretch marks soon faded away. You can read the lady's article at

stretchmarkszapped.com

Nothing wrong with stretch marks; they're the road map to motherhood!

I'm a male, and I don't really know about preventing stretch marks, but don't worry about them too much, we still love you. We only care about how you and the baby are.

That's what we tell ourselves, but, in our heart of hearts, it's not true.

Use vitamin E cream several times a day. No stretch marks.

The g/f has stretch marks and I certainly do not care. She even jokes about them being 'waves'.

Maybe you care, but some of us care for the whole woman and not some minor defect like stretch marks.

As to prevention, no idea, sorry. But they have never posed a problem to me.

One thing I learned about my husband, is that if I didn't point my flaws out to him, he wouldn't even notice.

Something to bear in mind for women, as we tend to be extra-critical of ourselves and our bodies.

Bio oil is a very good product, used to clears scars & prevent stretch marks etc. Not cheap but very very good

~To the OP congratulations!!~

We just got this product in Canada/US within the last year or so, but I read about it that it was really popular in Europe. I had it to get lighten a few marks I developed (not preggers just got a bit more womanly since coming to Uni ). It seemed like it was starting to work but at about $15 for a small bottle its pretty expensive, so I gave it up.

Anything with vitamin E is supposed to be really good. My cousin also used walmart brand cocoa butter (oily lotion, but pretty good stuff if you don't mind that feeling on your bod) and nivea body lotion and both worked really well for her.