Top 6 Ways To Prevent Your Skin From Sagging

Sagging or loose skin is a normal experience during pregnancy since the skin stretches to accommodate the growing bump. As a result, most women find their skin sagging after giving birth. While pregnancy can bring a lot of changes to your skin, they may disappear after delivery. Since skin is made up of collagen and elastin, it expands with weight gain. The skin may have trouble returning to its original shape once stretched. Loose skin can be uncomfortable and may prevent clothes from fitting properly and if you have more than a little, it can become irritated or cause infection.

What Happens To Skin During Pregnancy?

While we generally talk about belly growing during pregnancy, it is the uterus expanding inside to make way for the development of your baby and not the stomach. Just like any part of your body that grows or swells, the skin as a living organ will broaden around the uterus. As this transpires, there are areas of the belly that can stretch. It depends on the person's genetics and their skin's ability to accommodate the change which results in stretch marks.

The proportion of stretching experienced during pregnancy varies from person to person. However, an average woman gains around 30 pounds during nine months of pregnancy. As this weight gain occurs the skin stretches to accommodate leading to stretch marks. Most women also notice a darkened line in the middle of the belly as pregnancy progresses called linea nigra. This line can last postpartum for up to a year or more, just like any other changes in pregnancy.

What Happens To Your Skin After Pregnancy?

Even though you might think changes are limited to your actual pregnancy, the area around the uterus continues to transform even after you've given birth. After pregnancy, your skin starts to shrink down, a bit frequently with a stretch, there is a change in elasticity. The tummy does not always snap back into the shape it was before you had a baby. As your body shrinks in size, this can translate into loose or sagging skin on the belly. Even though they made fade over time, any stretch marks that appear during pregnancy will remain after giving birth.

If you have had a C-section, you may also have birth scars. During C-section, the muscles are cut, so working out and the changes you can expect to see from working out are different. As abdominal muscles can be functionally affected by a pregnancy, many of your once trusty tricks for toning your stomach might not deliver the same results as they previously did. Generally, it is harder to tone your belly area. Regardless of your delivery, the more children you have and the older you get, the harder it is to tone your belly area.

Top 6 Ways To Prevent Your Skin From Sagging

• Eat healthy to improve skin elasticity

To maintain its elasticity and get nutrients for your skin, it is essential to eat healthily. The skin is one of the final organs to receive vitamins and minerals and if you don't get enough nutrients, your skin will become deprived of what it needs to stay soft and resilient. Eat a healthy diet including plenty of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and fats, to facilitate elasticity and tighten loose skin. Some ways in which healthy foods can help are as follows:

1. Fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, green leafy vegetables and strawberries contain vitamins A and C. While vitamin A can help prevent dryness of the skin, vitamin A produces collagen which gives firmness to the skin.
2. Almonds, sunflower seeds and hazelnuts include healthy fats. They also contain vitamin E and antioxidants which nourishes the skin and keeps it healthy.
3. Sweet limes, oranges, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries also facilitate collagen production that enables the skin to tighten. Vegetables that are good about e of collagen include lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, beetroot and bell peppers.
4. Some zinc-rich foods such as pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, cashews and mushrooms also enable the skin to tighten
5. Protein-rich foods such as eggs, pulses, sprouts, quinoa and soy milk also help in toning the muscles.

• Lose weight slowly

After the birth of your baby, you may be super motivated to lose the weight you've gained over the past nine months. Although keep in mind that losing weight quickly can make the problem of skin sagging even worse. You will lose both fat and muscle if you shed weight too fast. Losing muscle deprives your body of its ability to retain a right, toned shape. Less muscle mass can also reduce your metabolism, making it more difficult to lose weight further down the road. Exercise in any form will help to tighten the saggy skin by strengthening the abdominal muscles. It also enables you to lose excess weight, reshape the body and tone stomach muscles. Exercising also facilitates blood circulation, which improves oxygen supply to the tissue and helps to boost collagen and elastin production. Your exercise routine can consist of:

1. Cardio exercises burn excess fat by toning the abdominal muscles. You can try brisk walking, jogging, riding a bike or swimming. However, consult your doctor on how soon you can start exercising after your delivery.
2. Strength training exercises improve the elasticity of the skin by toning and strengthening the muscles. You can try cycling, crunches and some leg raises.

Add variation to your exercises along with cardio or strength training exercises. Always remember to stretch your body before and after the workout. Since you may get bored with the same exercises, change the exercise protocol every two weeks. Aim to lose one or two pounds per week since it makes the body much healthier and more sustainable over the long term.

• Stay Hydrated

Tightening saggy skin after pregnancy is all about improving and maintaining elasticity. In large part, the elasticity depends on staying hydrated. Drinking at least seven to eight glasses of water every day is the only way to stay hydrated. In addition to maintaining your skin elasticity, drinking water helps your body to burn calories and reduces water retention in your abdomen. All these things together can make the appearance of saggy skin less noticeable. You can also apply a product such as body lotion to keep your skin hydrated. Natural ingredients in the lotion such as glycerin and ceramides moisturize dry skin and enhance your skin's elasticity, leaving the skin looking and feeling younger. Your body's natural ability to restore and tighten loose skin is also contributed by hydration. Drinking plenty of water and applying a moisturising balm every day can help to tighten loose skin after pregnancy from both the inside and outside.

• Breastfeeding your baby

You and your baby both benefit from breastfeeding. While breastmilk is an extremely healthy source of nutrition for newborns, it also helps them to grow mentally and physically and keeps their immune systems functioning. Breastfeeding your baby helps you to lose weight and tighten saggy skin after pregnancy. Your body uses a large portion of the calories you consume to produce milk while breastfeeding. As a result, your body reserves fewer calories as fat and may even dip into your existing body fat to keep up milk production. It means that you can lose weight faster and tighten saggy skin after pregnancy just by doing what comes naturally, which is great news for new moms.

• Exfoliating your skin

The process of removing dead cells from the surface of your skin is called exfoliating. This process promotes new skin growth which is healthier, natural and tighter than the old surface skin. Exfoliation also promotes blood circulation to the surface layers of the skin which increases skin regeneration and promotes elasticity. All these functions help to tighten loose skin after pregnancy. As part of your daily routine, you may already exfoliate your face and neck. However, the simplest way to exfoliate loose skin is to grab a loofah or bath brush during your shower and give a bit of extra attention to your belly and thighs. When your skin is firmer, you can also dry brush loose skin before your shower, but be gentle or you may damage the skin you are trying to heal.

• Maintain a healthy state of mind

It is frustrating when you are trying to tighten saggy skin after pregnancy and the results don't come out as quickly as you'd like. But don't give up and stay calm and maintain a healthy state of mind. Following are some tips for finding your best mental state:

1. Remind yourself to be patient since your body just went through significant trauma.
2. When you feel yourself getting frustrated, try deep breathing.
3. Listen to your favourite music
4. Go outdoors and enjoy as much as you can
5. Play with your baby and make your baby as happy and comfortable as possible.
6. Meditate sometimes.
7. Take a nap with your baby so that you don't exhaust yourself.

Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are indented streaks or coloured lines on your skin which are common during pregnancy. It is due to skin that expands and stretches, which is either the result of weight gain or weight loss. While newer stretch marks are red-tinged and easier to treat. White stretch marks are older and more difficult to deal with. However, stretch marks are extremely common and completely natural during and after pregnancy.

While stretch marks can also be genetic, they are also common in people whose growth spurts or weight gain or loss. There are numerous treatments for stretch marks. Some of them might be able to lighten the colours of your marks and shrink them. There are plenty of stretch mark oil and creams available that are designed to keep them at bay as your body changes throughout the pregnancy.

Does Stretch Mark Oil Work?

Many stretch mark creams, lotions, gels and would have been researched and no single product seems to help consistently with fading stretch marks. Not even in-office treatment like laser therapy or micro-needling can get rid of stretch marks even though they help to stimulate collagen production. Since there is no treatment which is 100% effective, it is better to focus on prevention.

How To Prevent Stretch Marks?

Stretch marks are the result of the body expanding faster than your skin can keep up with. Keeping your skin moisturized and hydrated could help it. The more pliable your skin is, the less chance there is of stretch marks appearing. However, no oil will help to get rid of stretch marks, but applying oil to your skin can supplement the natural lipid barrier which helps the skin to retain its moisture. While body oils may not do wonders for stretch marks, they will help to maintain overall skin health.

How To Choose The Best Stretch Mark Oil

• Look for the right ingredients

The most important ingredient in stretch mark oil is oil. In particular, plant oils are a rich source of essential fatty acids and vitamins. They are helpful for the skin in many ways, including enhancing skin's elasticity as well as having antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. For those who are not pregnant, researchers suggest topical vitamin A derivatives such as retinol which helps to tighten the appearance of the skin and make the stretch marks less visible. Vitamin A facilitates the formation of new collagen and assists in skin renewal. They also help to increase elasticity and enhance skin texture and tone. Vitamin E is also recommended since it maintains the skin from the effects of free radicals and increases the moisture content of the upper layer of the skin to make it soft, smooth and supple.

• Choose between fragrance or fragrance-free

When choosing plant-based oils which usually come in a range of scents and smells, it is better to choose according to your preference. Since a lot of them are allergic to certain plants or have sensitive skin, it is recommended to stick to fragrance-free products to avoid the risk of allergic reactions.

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Conclusion

Excess skin around the belly is normal during and after pregnancy. Age, height, weight, lifestyle and genetic factors are the various factors which can influence the severity of loose skin. A healthful, balanced diet and moderate exercise ensuring and after pregnancy can help to minimize loose skin. There are various remedies and supplements available to improve the appearance of loose skin. However, there is little evidence to support these products and their effectiveness. Even if you can't stick to your belly care routine all the time, something is still better than nothing.