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Home › Articles › Health and Physical Changes › Oh, Those Stretch Marks!

Oh, Those Stretch Marks!

The Battle Scars of Pregnancy

By Laura Cone

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Bonnie Hagen of White Plains, N.Y., does not expect to have the airbrushed look of a model. She accepts her stretch marks as one of the ways her body changed after having her infant son, Daniel, and 2-year-old daughter, Victoria.

However, Hagen, the owner of Enhance Face & Body Spa in Hartsdale, N.Y., still enjoys salt glow treatments to soothe her skin and help reduce the appearance of stretch marks. "I think I'm more accepting, but that does not mean that I would not do these services because I want to be the best person I can be," she says. "I don't cry when I look in the mirror. It's like a war scar."

To help prevent stretch marks, Hagen exercised during her pregnancy and did not gain excessive weight. "I did not binge on any bad foods," she says.

Stretch marks, those unsightly streaks on your belly and upper thighs, may range from 1/10 of an inch to 4 inches. Experts say they are caused when the elastic fibers binding the skin – elastin and collagen – are overstressed, producing small tears. "Stretch marks are mainly inherited, so if your mother has them chances are you are going to have them," Hagen says.

Pamper with Spa Treatments
Some treatments, such as salt glows, are safe for pregnant women, but other stretch-mark treatments are not. Pulse light treatments, which may reduce the small red or white depressed streaks in the skin, are not safe for pregnant women.

"I found salt glows really help smooth your skin and make it subtle," says Hagen. She says the ingredients in the salt glows she enjoys include essential oils mixed with salt from the Dead Sea. "It helped not only smooth my skin around my stomach as it was growing, but the smell of it gave me a specific mood, says Hager. "If I wanted to feel relaxed I used lavender. If I wanted to feel uplifted I used the citrus orange blossom, which is very invigorating. If you are feeling tired, that helps."


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