Stretch marks....is it possible to get rid of them?

M

midnight

Cathlete
Ok, so the skin on my stomach looks like orange peel. I am very small and had two very large babies. I went to try on bathing suits yesterday and these marks are the only reason I can't show my stomach. If it wasn't for that, this is the first time in my life I ever could consider a bikini. (Thank you Cathe) I've heard about something called Strivectin (which is also used for wrinkles). Anybody had any success with anything? It may be too late anyway because my most recent set of stretch marks (and my daughter) are already 9+ years old. I'm sure there is a surgical option to get rid of these but I'm not in a position to consider it.

Commiseration will be accepted in lieu of advice. :)


Mucho thanks,
--Lois

"Don't forget to breathe!"
 
Hi there,

I have stretch marks from gaining and losing 40+ pounds a couple of times. I also purchased Strivectin in the past and I am unsure that the results justify the cost. It is over $100 a tube!

The cream does not make the marks go away although they do appear slightly less noticeable. Results are not permanent and continual use of the cream is required. I wonder if a regular moisturizer, clean eating, and ab toning wouldn't do the same thing.
 
Lois, I hate to tell you this, but they're permanent. I have them on my lower belly. They're not very obvious, and you have to look very closely to see them. I think the cream I used when I was pregnant (it was something I got online called Barmon) helped, but I don't expect anything to take them away. I have loose skin under my belly button from the pregnancy, and when I lie in bed on my side, you can really see the loose skin sag, and only the part under my belly button. Looks freakish. Since I'm small, no one would know this unless I parade around in a bikini, which I don't do and never have in my life, even pre-pregnancy.

Hope you feel better now.:7

Pinky
 
I think you have to learn to love them! And just think about what you got out of them, babies.
I made it through 8 monthes of my pregnancy without getting any, and on the last month, look out. I also have them on my breast.I wasn't very far along when I got them there.
Mine aren't colored anymore and its been 9 yrs so i doubt I could do anything about them now.
I think our only option is if the skin is lose as well as stretched then you could probably get some sort of plastic surgery done.When I am sitting I can pinch a fair bit of mine.
Another option....go to a foreign country for a holiday and when you see some of the sights in bikinis down there , you will be proud to wear a bikini even if you have stretch marks.Thats what I did.
Lori :)
 
I have tried a generic brand of Strivectin (exact same ingredients) and hate to say it, but it made my skin very tight around my eyes and made me look like I had more wrinkles. I had to stop using it. Luckily for me, I did not get stretch marks from having 2 children.

Charlotte~
 
I don't have any on my tummy, but my butt and hips are nasty!
There really isn't anything you can do about them, and noone really cares about them exept for me.
Just think of them as.....badges of mommy hood. That's what they are! They are the badges of a real woman!
 
I don't have any stretch marks on my belly...Thank goodness! But it appears that I may be developing stretch marks on my boobs! YIKES!:eek: ;( x(

I also have stretch marks on the insides of my knees and on my lower back/top of my butt from weight fluctuation over the years.

Never tried to get rid of them in the past cause they never bothered me before...if they DO show up on my boobs or belly from pregnancy I could be tempted to try to atleast tone them down a bit....

~Wendy~

I smoked my last cigarette on March 17, 2004 at 10:00 pm!

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EDD: 05/19/05
 
Unfortunately there is no miracle cream that can get rid of stretch marks. If anything they can prevent new ones from forming by preventing the breakdown of collagen and elastin fibers, but once you get a stretch mark and these fibers break it is the equivalent of getting a new scar. When a new stretch mark is forming they are usually of a pink or red color and they eventually turn to a white color. From experience with creams myself (strivectin and mederma being two of the tens I tried) I say that they just accelerate that process. They turn red stretch marks to white which can be good if you're fair skinned in terms of an immediate solution, but if you want to get microdermabrasion, chemical peels, or lasers (which are the known solutions to reduce the appearance of stretch marks) you'll get better results if your stretch marks are pink or reddish instead of white. Another thing is the location of your stretch marks. Stretch marks in the abdomen due to pregnancy or extreme weight gain or loss can disappear almost completely with an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and some stretch marks in the thigh area can disappear with a thigh lift. Other locations like the breasts, buttocks and arms have no surgical solutions yet, just skin treatments like microdermabrasion, chemical peels and lasers. In these areas you can see an improvement with these treatments, but you'll never get rid of them 100%.
 
Lois,

Bad news- unless you get them, lasered, they are pretty much here for the long haul. I got a stretch mark on my hip when I was 13 and growing, and I've been getting them ever since whenever my weight changes the slightest bit. I think they are a hereditary thing that some of us are prone to.

Sorry :(
 
Thanks for all of your responses. I pretty much already knew the answer but the time in the dressing room with the bathing suits made me lose my grip on reality. :) I did try on a very nice tankini that I would feel good in. And, it's two sizes smaller than the one I wore last summer. The summer can be so short here in New England that I would only have a few months to be able to uncover my stomach anyway, and I'm way too old for the belly shirt look!!

99% of the time I do feel like my stretch marks are a badge of honor and that's what I tell my friends when they feel bad about their own.

I think I'll let go of this one and find something else to worry about. That usually isn't hard for me!! :p
--Lois

"Don't forget to breathe!"
 
Lois, if you have a nice, toned, tanned core, who gives a hoot about the stretch marks? As several have said you earned them. Don't let them keep you from showing off your figure in a bikini. The reason I say this is because you can go to any mall in America on a weekend & see many kids, too young to have children of their own with low-rise waistbands, belly shirts & pudgy tummies. Many with stretch marks included. I they obviously don't give a care. Just go for it.

Marla
 
Pinky - I would have never known you have loose skin! You are so tiny!

Well, unfortunately, I have loose skin AND stretch marks. Ds is 8 already so they've all been there for awhile. It bothers me but I've somewhat accepted it because I know surgery is not an option for me. (I faint when I get a shot! I think surgery is definitely OUT!) I still don't think I will ever wear a bikini in public, though.
 
Thanks Laura, that makes me feel better.:) It's genetic. My mom has stretch marks, and even my younger brother has them from growth spurts. I don't consider surgery either, not because I'm afraid of needles, but because I'm not the kind of person who likes to display much flesh. With my clothes covering everything, who would know? Also, my stretch marks remind me of my pregnancy, which was a really good one, AND of childbirth, which I believe requires the most courage.:7

Pinky
 
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