This is the second article on pregnancy stretch marks. The first one probably was not to informative as I spent my time and word quota, having a good moan about my wife and daughters obsession with stretch marks, skin care, pregnancy and past pregnancies and how all this was affecting my time on the golf course.

I intend, and intention is everything is it not, to make this article more interesting an informative, so here we go. Pregnancy stretch marks materialize as raised red or purple welts, generally on the breasts and stomach, though they may develop on the lower back and legs. Gradually many will lighten to white welts.

Usually 75% of women get stretch marks during pregnancy, (notably my wife and daughter, well I couldn’t resist having just a little dig, could I) most often in the sixth or seventh month. They come about because the stomach is very distended or the skin stretched over a period of time. Your pregnancy and the stretching of the skin, causes the skin’s support structure, elastin and collagen, to break down.

The skin is built up in three layers, the outer layer is the epidermis, the middle layer is the dermis, and the inner layer is called the subcutaneous. This is where fatty tissue is accumulated. How do I know so much about pregnancy stretch marks? Well just in case you have not been following previous articles, how to prevent stretch marks and how to get rid of stretch marks are the main topics of conversation in our house between my wife and daughter these days.

My job is to research pregnancy stretch marks for them, to give them something to talk about with their morning cup of coffee and afternoon tea and when out shopping for maternity and baby clothes. I guess you’ve got the picture by now.

The dermis is the skins support and it is kept firm by its structure, collagen. This is the layer in which stretch marks come about. Healing the damage caused by stretch marks must take place at this level. Something that will interest my wife and daughter, apparently there is a hereditary factor with pregnancy stretch marks. If your mother gained stretch marks throughout her pregnancy, you are likely to as well.

As my daughter is in her first trimester of this pregnancy, maintaining moisture with a good skin care product for stretch marks will improve the elasticity of her skin and prevent further stretch marks forming. It is good that she recognizes the need to drink adequate water to maintain water balance from inside out. Pregnancy stretch marks need not be a problem, nor should getting to the golf course tomorrow, especially after my hard work today.

Hello once again. My daughter who is in her first trimester of her forth pregnancy lives three doors away from my wife and myself and she and my wife are constantly talking about pregnancy stretch marks and ways to make them disappear. Other words, which are bandied around our house on a regular basis, are maternity, past pregnancies, exercise during pregnancy, skin care, birth, baby and the strong favorite – How to prevent and get rid of stretch marks.

Do they mention a golf club or something that might be of interest to me, no chance but as I may have mentioned once or twice before, my wife is simply the best cook ever and meal times are the highlights of my day and when I can escape to the golf course. This makes all the talk of stretch marks bearable.

I am their unpaid researcher; in my own time I like a good game of golf or to be in the garden or my greenhouse. Tomatoes do not get stretch marks, though if they are given insufficient water, they do split. I guess that something tomatoes and the human race have in common, the need for a good deal of water, not over watered of course.

My daughter uses a cream everyday to try and prevent any future stretch marks developing but has several from her previous pregnancies and so is always on the look out for something to get rid of these. My wife also has some stretch marks she would like to get rid of. I don’t really understand why she makes such a big deal after all these years and yes I am always being told I don’t understand. Who said it’s a mans world. Is it just that us men don’t consider ourselves this vain and after all we don’t have to have the babies, do we. Pregnancy stretch marks, what does a mere man know about these. I think they are a bit insensitive to my feelings here. I do try to understand.

I do seem to have got carried away with self-pity throughout this article, for this I apologize. I don’t really feel sorry for myself and in fact have a good deal to be thankful for. I have a wonderful wife, a lovely daughter, three lively grandchildren, another on the way and stimulating talk regarding pregnancy stretch marks. What more could any man want from life?