With all that’s good about motherhood and the relief of not looking like a bloated peach again, there will definitely be some post-pregnancy realizations that don’t sit down too well with new mothers.
One of the the most frowned-upon by-products of pregnancy are stretch marks. Spread across the surface of my stomach like an ugly spider web, a new mother can’t help but worriedly run her fingers across it when she looks at her bare torso, half-hoping that they’d go away at the touch of her fingers.
A further full-body check up will unveil more stretch marks on my thighs, buttocks, hips and breasts… amongst other post-partum symptoms.
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It’s a Stretch
Think of our skin as an un-stretched rubber band that is a dark shade of red. Through pregnancy or abrupt weight gain and loss, the skin is stretched for a period of time, straining the elastic supportive tissue under it.
Under duress, this tissue changes in color, much like a stretched rubber band, and leaves behind an unsightly mark on the skin once un-stretched.
I was not big anymore, but all these marks made me want to slip back into my maternity clothes, just to conceal them all. This was not doing my esteem any wonders, and I knew I had to do something about it.
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The Damage Control Begins
For everyone looking to achieve their pre-pregnancy figure, stretch marks are the first point of attack because well, it’s pretty much as prominent as your 8-month old baby bump…just not in 3-D.
Where stretch mark creams do not work, there is nothing a little bit of laser would not fix. The LED Red treatment worked like a charm for my stretch marks, when i had my first born child.
This process enhances the growth of collagen and improves the healing abilities of the skin, while reducing pigmentation, pores and oil on your skin. Get it in a single session…or 8 if you want optimal results.
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X Marks The Spot(s)
Another one of the more result-laden treatments I also tried out was the SmartX laser treatment.
Another top-of-the-grade form of laser therapy, SmartX makes use of CO2 technology along with a high-speed computer scanner to deliver a matrix of microlaser pulses that banishes skin imperfections and activate skin rejuvenation, while speeding up the healing rate of your skin.
This procedure not only removes the pigmentation that causes stretch marks, it helps to (immediately) tighten your skin too, rolling back the years.
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The Dynamic… Dual
Another procedure worthy of a mention iss the Fraxel Dual Laser treatment. A procedure pioneered by SW1 Clinic back in 2005, this treatment has stood the test of time, and is still being widely performed by Dr Kenneth Lee, a former regional trainer for Fraxel.
This procedure is named as such because of their lethal laser-guided one-two punch combo of resurfacing and depigmentation.
Stretch marks are a sight for sore eyes, but they also feel bumpy and uneven to the touch. This treatment kills two with two, with both lasers working to make your skin look good and feel good.
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Trouble Down South
While your stretch marks may be visible and cause you a good amount of woe, another postpartum concern might not be visible to the naked eye: your weakened pelvic floor.
The amount of duress the pelvic region undergoes during childbirth can be extreme to some, and detrimental upon more than one birth. Your pelvic muscles are worked to the bone, and a weakened pelvic floor can bring about a host of problems that you will most definitely loathe more than stretch marks.
Loss of control in bladder and bowel movement, dimished sensation during sexual activity, chronic lower back pain, and even prostate cancer are just some of the results of a weakened pelvic floor.
What you can do on your end, is something known as the kegel exercise. Simple repetition of the clenching of your pelvic region can restore some of the strength in your pelvic floor, but an intensive, professionally-administered session of the Magnetic Muscle Sculpt will more comprehensively solve or prevent a case of a weakened pelvic floor.
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