Pregnancy is a beautiful experience in a woman's life. Its a time of joy and celebration of womanhood and you get lots of compliments and gifts. However, along with all this you also get those unsightly stretch marks.
Along with your protruding belly, you can also develop red and brown color streaks on your abdomen and even thighs and hips. A popular misconception among women is that stretch marks only appear when you scratch the skin surface. However, this is not true. Scratching the skin surface definitely accelerates the intensity of the marks but that doesn't mean you can escape them by not scratching. Following are some important facts about stretch marks that will help you better understand the situation.
What are Stretch Marks?
Stretch marks are narrow depressed lines formed on the skin surface as a result of tearing in the underlying elastic supportive tissues. These elastic supportive tissues, lying just beneath the top skin layer, help the skin to stretch and strain. However, when the skin is stretched beyond a specific limit, the tissues get torn and marks are formed. Depending on your skin color, these marks can be either red or brown in color. In spite of the elasticity of the skin, the weight gain during pregnancy is so much that stretch marks eventually can get formed as well. Apart from pregnancy, stretch marks also depend on genetics.
Prevention & Cure of Stretch Marks
The bad news is that stretch marks cannot be completely eliminated. Once they are formed, you can never go back to the completely flawless skin. However, the good news is there are many ways you can prevent their formation and also reduce their appearance once they are visible on the skin. Here are some tips:
Moisturize Well
Use a rich moisturizer in order to enhance the skin elasticity. When the elasticity of the skin increases, there is less of a chance of tears and marks. Apply a good amount of moisturizer and massage it all over the body especially on the abdomen, thighs and buttocks. This is because these are the region’s most prone to the development of stretch marks.
Avoid Scratching
The skin becomes excessively dry and sensitive during pregnancy. Moreover, there is an irresistible feeling of itchiness. However, control yourself and avoid itching if you want to prevent the formation of stretch marks. The more you scratch, more will be the tears formed and more will be the appearance of stretch marks.
Apply Gels and Creams
Vitamin E gels, shea butter and cocoa butter are especially useful against reducing the appearance of stretch marks. They are excellent emollients that not only help trap in the moisture but also help to heal wounds and skin discoloration. All these properties help it in acting as a stretch mark removal treatment. Other effective ingredients include plant extracts, and fruit acids like glycolic acid and lactic acid. Apply these products liberally over the affected area and massage well.
Avoid Certain Ingredients
Avoid using skin care products that contain Retinoic Acid or Tretinoin and other vitamin A derivatives and hydroquinone because these have been shown to cause numerous birth defects. Always consult with your doctor before trying on new skin care products during pregnancy.
Though stretch marks cannot be completely eliminated, their appearance can be drastically reduced using the right kind of treatments. The broken skin fibers cannot be repaired but by diligent skin treatments, your skin can again become clear and supple.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Pregnancy Stretch Marks – How To Get Rid Of Them?
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Ultrasound 4D scans makes pregnancy more pleasurable
Ultrasound 4D scans is the latest form of ultrasound scans doctors use to find out more about babies in wombs. 4D is basically shorthand for ‘four-dimensional’ where the fourth dimension here is time. Basically what happens in a 4D scan is that the element of time is added to a three dimensional ultrasound image. The result is a live action image of the unborn baby and even of internal anatomy.
The advantage of 4D imaging over 3d imaging is that the doctor can visualize internal anatomy in real time. Examples of the type of 4D images are using movement patterns of the fetuses to learn more about the baby’s development.
It also leads to an increase in the accuracy of ultrasound guided biopsies because needle movements are visible in real time in all 3 dimensions. Physicians and sonographers benefit the most from 4D scans as they can use it to detect and thus treat various issues like genetic syndromes and vascular anomalies.
No risks involved
There are basically no risks involved in using either 3D or 4D ultrasound. This is because the technology used here is similar to that of radar. The scan is taken by placing a probe on the body which emits sound waves into the body. It is based on the return echo that an image is finally generated.
Though 4D ultrasounds use a different technology to get the scan, the time spent for generating a scan is not longer than the time spent for a traditional scan. Sometimes, 4D ultrasound images have a golden hue on them. This does not have any effect on the image; it is only because the golden hue is pleasing to the eye it is used to show shadows and highlights in the scan.
Factors that affect a 4D scan
It is not possible to exactly state how long a 4D ultrasound scan exam lasts. However there are a few factors to be considered like the position of the womb, the amount of amniotic fluid in the womb and the size of the mother and the baby.
The more fluid there is, and the larger is the frame of the mother, the clearer and faster a scan is. If the baby is grown big or the mother’s frame is too small, then the scan may not be that clear as expected. Whatever the case, a typical exam takes about 30 to fifty minutes.
Applications of 4D scans
There are various applications for 4D ultrasound besides giving pretty baby pictures. It is used for breast imaging, general imaging and interventional urology. Moreover, like any traditional scan, ultrasound 4D scans can be used for determining the fetal age, structural problems with the uterus, fetal abnormalities, abnormal bleeding, placental abnormalities, ovarian tumor and fibroids and ectopic pregnancy or any other abnormalities of pregnancy.
It is also beneficial in analyzing fetal development, for locating placenta and in evaluating multiple and high risk pregnancies. 4D scans also create a specific bonding between mother and baby, with lifelike images of the baby. This makes pregnancy a much more beautiful experience to the mother.
