Stretchmarks

[Honey123]

Hi,

This is a little embarrassing but I am guessing that I am not alone - at least I hope I'm not!!

I started gaining weight when I was 13. By 15 or 16 I was getting stretchmarks from gaining weight so quickly. This continued until I was about 18 or 19 and my gains slowed down.

My body is now covered in Stretchmarks. They are not dark in colour anymore but have faded to a silvery scar colour. I also have some deep ones that are on the underside of my upper arms and at the tops/sides of my breasts.

Obviously losing weight isn't going to magic them all away. But I want to know if they will fade away over time. Is there anything that can be done to remove them?
I know being thinner will be a really big health boost for me, but I would like to be able to wear little clothes/bathing coustumes too - but that isn't going to be a possibility if I have stretchmarks everywhere!!

Do they go away over time? I have seen and tried some of the creams that are on the market but to no avail, what about cosmetic surgery?? Anyone know?

-Ally

[lilwitch78]

I am in the same boat as you. My stretch marks actually came from a child. There are several options out there. You can try Mederma (not sure on the spelling) they sell it at Walmart but it is really expensive. It will run you about $23 a tube. You can consult with a dematologist and they may give you Retin A cream but this does cause birth defects in children so you have to be careful not to get pregnant. There is also surgery available to correct this but again it is expensive. All I do is use Vitamin E capsules, cocoa butter or creams with aloe. This seems to work. Not as good as the surgery but it does it's job. I find it is not worth it for me to go have the surgery until I have decided not to have anymore children. Good Luck!

[zubie75082]

I'm in the same boat.. luckily my skin seems to be very elastic.. as I am about 100-110 lbs overweight, and have only stretchmarks on my tummy and breasts.. and they are almost clear in nature.. translucent would be the better word.. they are kind of purple if I move around in the light.. I'm hoping they go down too.. My friend used an OTC topical cream when she was pregnant to help keep stretchmarks to a minimum.. she said it worked fairly good.. as for reversing them I don't know.. ummm the name of it was... Palmers Cocoa Butter.. hope that helps!

[crazyfrog]

From what I have heard, the kind that are skin toned can only be prevented (with lotions like cocoa butter) but cannot be reversed. The laser treatment only reduces the color of the purple/red ones. I'm not an expert but I remember watching/reading about this topic. I was interested because I'm in the same boat with skin colored stretch marks on the tops of my breasts and on my thighs. DB has them on his love handles but his are red (poor guy, very self-concious about them). One ray of hope I have is that mine have gotten smaller (shrunken down) since I've been losing weight. I have to LOOK for them to see them. Hopefully you'll experience the same thing! :D

[Christena]

OTC creams are rarely if at all effective at reversing stretch marks, especially those that have been there for a long time. I don't know about other treatments, but mine seem to be least noticable when my skin is its normal shade--when I don't have a tan.

I'm lucky in this aspect in that I don't really have a lot and mine are really light---BUT I have a friend who has them all over from being overweight her whole life and then havingg a baby. Hers from her teenage years have now faded and she dresses very very cute...just covers up the right places like her lower stomach and thighs.

Sometimes we just have to work with what we have. But you still can look very cute and wear cute bathing suits that hide stretch marks. I have another friend who is very thin but has stretch marks on her thighs. She doesn't care--she wears what she wants and doesn't think twice.

[Patflat71]

Here is my theory on the subject (it is also wishfull thinking because, as all of you, I am in the same zebra-striped boat!)

Apparently our skin cell renewal process completes a full cycle every 7 years. It seems fairly true because I have stretch marks on the inside of my thighs from my teen years that are much less appearant now (almost invisible), and I have some new ones from my latest pregnancy almost 2 years ago that are still pretty purple and noticeable. I think (and sincerely hope!) that the coloured ones will fade to clear and the clear ones will slowly dissapear. That is if I am really careful with my weight (which I am obviously since I am here with you!) and couldn't hurt to use the creams (especially retin-A as it apparently stimulates the cell renewal process, kind of like a very gentle and slow peeling). I'm also thinking a good lofa scrub (spelling?) could possibly also help stimulate the skin renewal process.

Let's all try it and report back with the results!

[IdDynamic]

I've gotten sad about the stretch marks lately. I have them on my breasts from when I went through puberty (I was 5'5" 117 lbs with 36, 22, 34 measurements and C cups by eight grade). I also have them on my thighs, hips and tummy from the weight I've gained over the years. I can tell that, with my weightloss, they're getting less red (before I could SEE them growing). I've decided to call mine "battle scars" instead of stretch marks. What do you all think?

M

[zubie75082]

LOL I love it! Battle scars sounds much better.. after all weight loss is a battle! They are just reminders of our once "wholesome" bodies!

[lynsey41]

Don't know how much help it would be,but my mom uses the stuff that Avon has for stretch marks and she has really bad ones and they have helped her alot.

[Patflat71]

I have some serious stretch marks on my belly and thighs. My mom brought me 'emu oil' for Christmas and I am trying it on my marks. I think they are starting to fade away (become less red) but I will update you when I see some real improvement, if there is any. Apparently emu oil is good for scars and such.

Cheers!

[Stormlady]

There is nothing that you can really do to remove stretch marks, as much as I wish. They will all fade from red to white/silvery in time. I always had them on my lower tummy and thighs from being overweight as a teen, but then when I got pregnant, Look out!! I now have them all over my stomach, from just under my breasts to my belly button is bright blazing red, there is not much I can do except wait for time to turn them lighter and figure on putting away money for a tummy tuck in my later years. When I lose weight and am skinny I figure my skin will be awful. I figure that my daughter's head being up may have made it a bit worse too, extra stretching. I guess that having a tummy tuck can't be any worse than a C-Sec, can it?

What I have been told is that the creams don't really work to remove them because stretch marks are not scars, they are actually the opposite of scars. (they didn't work to prevent them in my case either :ugh: ) A scar is excess collagen built up because of trauma to a particular area whereas a stretch mark occurs when the already present collagen is stretched to its breaking point and it tears, so there is no collagen there at all. I think this is also why there is not much that can be done for them from a surgical/dermatological point of view.

[not300]

Bad news, the only way to get rid of stretchmarks is to have the skin removed. Time can fade them, but once the damage is done it is done. Light ones can be made less noticable by tanning, but that damages the skin in other ways. There are waterproof makeups made to cover scars and birthmarks but it takes practice to make it look natural.