A couple of weeks ago, I developed some raised red marks on my bulging tummy. They were very, very itchy, so I thought I have developed some kind of rashes. Asked some friends and colleagues if they have experienced the same thing during pregnancy, even showed some of them the mark, but I got a mixture of different advices.
“Try putting on some medicated powder,” one kakak suggested. “Like Ammens or Agnesia?” I asked back, referring to two well-known brands used by most Malaysian mothers to treat rashes. “Maybe you can try Johnson’s medicated powder. I use it to treat most itchiness in my family”. Oh, okay… but it didn’t work well.
“Try Vaseline,” another kakak advocated. The petroleum jelly? Uh huh. I never thought it can help with reducing itchiness - and in my case, it didn’t.
“Why don’t you go and see a doctor?” yet another kakak suggested.
I took her advice and went to see my family GP last week. Told him about the unsightly red marks and the itchiness I felt. He asked me to lie down to have a good look at these ‘rashes’.
Upon seeing it, he smiled gently, “Nothing to worry about, they are just some stretch marks”
Huh? I’ve been rubbing baby oil with vitamin E on my tummy daily just to prevent stretch marks. I thought they only appear after delivery.
No, the kind doctor corrected my perception. Apparently, it’s quite common for pregnant ladies (75 to 90 percent, in fact, or so according to this article) to develop stretch marks during pregnancy. He clarified that stretch marks occur in the dermis, the elastic, resilient middle layer of the skins that allow skins to retain its shape. Using a rubber-band in his explanation, the doctor explained how the skin becomes less elastic and the connective fibres break when the dermis is constantly stretched over time, causing the markings known as stretch marks.
Oh, okay…
It was rather embarrassing, really – to consult the GP on what I thought was rashes, only to be told that they are harmless stretch marks. (And to think that I’ve been consistently using the baby oil to prevent them, when I did not even recognize what they actually look like…) He advised me to get Strytedin or some other stretch mark cream from any pharmacy.
I got away from the clinic without having to pay for anything, not even a minimal consultation fee. (That’s rare in KL/PJ nowadays.) Immediately went in search of the said cream, but could not find it.
As for now, I’m treating the stretch marks with some olive oil, a gift from a friend who bought it somewhere in Europe, as advised by a friend of hers. According to my friend, her friend who used that particular brand of olive oil (Olivia) has no stretch mark at all after giving birth.
Hmm, hope it’s still not too late for me to eliminate those marks then…
2 comments:
Assalaamu'alaikum warahmatullah...yup..what is a pregnancy without stretch meark..ehh.hihi..kak az..tell you what, keep on putting that olive oil religiously ..Insha-Allah you can prevent those..I am with two kids with no strecth mark..Alhamdulillah..I simply used that "Bertolli olive oil" which sometimes they put on along with other beauty products..a bit sticky..but worth it..I found the thicker the oil is the better..
even when I was attending antenatal class, this olive oil is said to be the best to prevent strecth mark compared to other creams.
keep on kak az, I apply once in the morning and again before I go to sleep, or whenever i feel
I need to apply..
It's cheap and Insha-Allah kalau rajin menyapunya, berkesan..jangan lupa tepi-tepi pinggang.
Allahu a'lam
Anon: Even the doctor I consulted recently testified for olive oil's goodness... , so I'll be religious with it, insya Allah :-)
Zsarina: Perfect skin, huh? Lucky you... Olive oil or not - I was told that my skin might be damaged due to the scratching I did previously...Hmm alahai...
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