Try to monitor your weight gain (and loss).
Stretch marks are from your skin stretching
and contracting to fast. So fast that your skin cannot keep up and the fibers under the skin tear. So technically it's true .. they are literally scars.. and once you have them the only way to remove them is with plastic surgery.
Otherwise you just have to conceal them best you can. Most of these creams out that say they remove them fail to mention that all they actually remove is the color (red/purplish hue they sometimes get) .. they will never repair the actual skin texture.
The creams won't help get rid of them once they are there but they will help to soften your skin and help with the elasticity .. but it all really just comes down to how fast you gain or lose your weight. (this is why large people who lose alot of weight dramatically fast (like the ones who get the surgery to help them lose weight) get stretch marks just like a pregger person will).
That being said, there are places that you cannot control your gains/losses in .. i.e. your breasts. That will simply be luck of the draw. If your mom has stretch marks, and your aunt and your grandmother have them .. chances are you may as well .. they can be genetic (the elasticity of your skin can be that is). Doesn't mean you will definately get them though, they could have not tried to do anything to prevent them.
I didn't get any stretch marks while I was preggers, I got mine after (small section on either hip). I thought I had beat the bullet when I didn't get any while I was preggers .. and once I had my son I got busy losing weight. That's where I got mine .. I lost weight to quickly, and my stretched skin couldn't keep up. And my mom, grandmother, and aunt .. none fo them have a single stretch mark. So pretty much I was "techincally" pre-dispositioned to not having them .. and I didn't control things right, and ended up with them regardless.
When the Dr's tell you not to lose more than 2-5 lbs a week .. not only do they mean because it's bad fror your heart and organs .. but it's also bad for your skin as well. Yay for me lol. I guess I've always been one of the ones who has to learn the hard way *doh*.
I've got a few pregger friends right now and since they can't or won't sit at a pc for long periods of time, I've been doing some research for them. I found several creams that are supposed to be "the best" and are used by all the starlets and horty torties lol and such. These are preventative creams, not "fixer" creams though. I didn't use any of these creams, I used Utter Cream myself .. so you'll have to go on your own best hunch .. on what to get.
Depending on how much you want to spend, here's the ones I've done some research on and the ones I know that they've bought and say they like so far:
9 Months Stretch Mark Prevention Lotion from Reviva $7
9 Months Stretch Mark Prevention Lotion 8 Fl.oz from Reviva
Bellamama cocoa butter $25
bellamomma.com
Belli Elasticity Belly Oil for Stretchmark Prevention $44.50
Belli Elasticity Belly Oil for Stretchmark Prevention & Skin Care Treatment=
BIOSKINCARE $50 - 75
Pregnancy Stretch Mark Prevention - BIOSKINCARE
Alpha derm $109
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StriVectin-SD $135
StriVectin-SD Wrinkle and Stretch Mark Cream
Hope this helps
