You know them as soon as you see them: dark, angry, red and rippled streaks of skin, an unfortunate reminder that sometimes the body changes at a rate too fast for the skin to keep up. Stretch marks are the bane of women everywhere and a near unavoidable fact of life. Like the villain of a late night monster flick, they are frightening, strike without prejudice and do not go away without a prolonged, intense fight. But what causes the problem to begin with?
Skin is elastic, to a certain extent. Sure, it is not exactly rubber, but if you tug at it, it will give a little before snapping back to its normal shape. However, despite this flexibility, skin has its limits. When people get larger fast, either through weight gain or muscle expansion, they run the risk of stretching their skin too much. Instead of expanding and then receding, it forms small, visible and permanent tears. These marks are usually long, reddish (at least initially) and feel like thin dips in the skin. In the medical world, these marks are often called striae.
Another important factor in the appearance of stretch marks is hormones. Teenagers get a lot of grief for their hormones (and in fact, their overacting hormones place them most at risk for these marks, should they gain weight), but the fact is everyone has plenty of them. They’re little chemicals that travel around telling your body what to do and how to feel. In some instances, your body can send out wayward hormones, which tell the cells in your skin to stop making collagen (something that keeps your skin firm, smooth and acts as a cushion). Without that collagen, your skin becomes thin, weak and subject to damage (from wrinkles as well as stretch marks).
There are several contributing factors. One of them is age. As we age, our body’s defenses become weaker and our skin becomes thinner and more prone to damage. Another factor is medication. Some medications play with the body’s hormonal levels, which can reduce collagen production. Yet another factor is diet and exercise; when people embark on an unhealthy lifestyle, they may gain weight rapidly and put too much pressure on the body; in these instances, the skin suffers.
They say that knowledge is power and one of the most important reasons for understanding the causes of stretch marks is so that you can fight them. Stay fit, eat right and pay attention to the side effects of any medications you take. Remember that while some situations may seem inescapable (for example, a perfectly healthy woman who gets pregnant can suffer from stretch marks even if she does not gain a large amount of weight and eats only the right portion size), there is always something you can do. There are numerous stretch mark removal products on the market which counter the hormone changes by refilling collagen levels via topical creams. Remember, once they appear they’re near impossible to get rid of, so start the prevention tactics now.
So, despite your better efforts you find that you have developed stretch marks; they are ugly, angry scars. Keeping them is out of the question so the next thing you should ask yourself is how to get rid of them. After all, no one should to have to worry about whether or not their favorite summer outfits reveal more scarring than beauty.
One of the first things to consider is which methods of removal work and which is a waste of time. Topping the list of time-wasters is wishful thinking, because no matter how much you wait patiently for them to disappear, they will remain on your skin without treatment. The second is weight-loss. It is a common misassumption that if you lose the weight which caused you to gain stretch marks in the first place, the skin will shrink back to its normal color and texture. Though exercise helps the situation, it can’t reverse it.
What does work are surgery (wherein the doctor basically cuts off the extra, pulled skin) and then sews the undamaged skin together. The other, less invasive option is to use a stretch mark cream which is full of nutrients and vitamins that help speed the recovery process. Although they do not have the effectiveness of surgery, they are easy to rub in and do not require a recovery period after (important if you are a busy person).
When choosing how to get rid of your stretch marks you should consider the cost, effectiveness and time constraints involved.
The decision to have a baby is a life-altering even, in more ways than one. Emotionally and responsibility-wise, you will never be the same once you have a child who depends on you; but did you know you may also never be the same physically? Many women go into the process expecting to have a child for the rest of their life, but do not realize that they could have unexpected companions: the dark, crinkled rows of stretch marks, which form when the body rapidly expands to accommodate the presence of a baby too quickly for the skin to adjust. Read on to learn more about how to deal with stretch marks, post-pregnancy.
The first thing you need to do, when you look in the mirror after you’ve delivered, is that it’s not as bad as it looks. You are probably tired, your body is adjusting to the sudden loss of weight and the stretch marks are the worst that they will ever be. As time passes, your body will start to calm down and the marks will not always be so deep or red. That isn’t to say they will go away – if you want to get your body back, you will still need to take action. But stressing will only make it harder to heal, so try to relax.
There are two main plans of actions for post-pregnancy stretch marks. One of them completely eliminates the presence of stretch marks and involves having a surgical operation to remove the stretched and scarred skin. The second option is to nurture and support the skin as much as possible, frequently through the use of a stretch mark cream. If you choose the first option, you will need to wait until your body recovers completely and decide when you will be ready let someone else care for your baby while you then cooperate from the surgery. It has the benefit of being drastic and complete; you will never have to worry about the stretch marks. The second option is something you can start right away (even while still pregnant) as it only requires that you spread a cream or gel across your skin. If you’re tired or weak, a friend or husband could even do it for you. This option has the benefit of being fast, inexpensive and still effective. The option you should fit your needs and image expectations.
After you have had a baby, the muscles in your stomach are almost completely gone because they’ve been so stretched out. Regardless of which option you choose for treating stretch marks, you will need to aid the process by getting fit and rebuilding the muscles. If you are concerned about not having the time since you have to watch your baby, consider investing in mother and infant exercise classes (or find the video of one online) so that you can multitask.
Remember that pregnancy and everything that comes after should be a positive experience. Even if your body doesn’t start off where you wanted it to be, with a little work, you can look great again.
The last time you checked, stretch marks weren’t in fashion – but what options do you have when they form on your once flawless skin? One popular answer is to seek out cocoa butter, a common remedy used by supermodels and housewives alike for decades. But what is the relationship between cocoa butter and stretch marks, and is it really a good solution for you? Read on for more information.
Sometimes, there’s nothing you can do about stretch marks. You can moisturize your skin every day, keep yourself fit and well-toned, drink a ton of water – and you still have a high risk of getting stretch marks when you are pregnant. Your body is simply not used to the stretching required to accommodate a whole other person existing inside of you. And, once they are there, they may never go away one hundred percent. But, that doesn’t mean you should just give up. Instead, you can look for methods that help limit the damage of stretch marks and help them fade away faster. This is where cocoa butter comes into play.
The cocoa butter sinks deep into your skin, providing much-needed moisture and helping it regenerate quickly, so that the dead cells can fall away (exfoliating regularly in your shower can also help speed up this part of the process) and new ones can take its place. The result is a scar that is rapidly fading, becoming less visible to the naked eye. The results have been talked about in a variety of scientific studies and journals, but the real evidence may be found in the hoards of women who have been using cocoa butter to treat their stretch marks for decades and decades. Also note that it is relatively inexpensive to buy. Is it a perfect solution? No. But it’s a solid one.
When using cocoa butter, the process is very basic. You simply apply the butter and massage it into your skin. It is no miracle cure, so you have to use it a lot if you want to see real results. Try to do at least three applications a day. One way to make this part of an easy routine is to apply the cocoa butter when you wake up in the morning and right before you go to bed. Toss an extra application in somewhere in the day and you are set.
Don’t expect any miracle cures. It has been used for many years, but if it was an end-all solution, there would be no further search for the perfect answer to stretch mark removal. Instead, be realistic and expect improved skin, not flawless skin
Few things devastate a beautiful body’s worth of silky smooth skin like stretch marks. They move like an angry hurricane, leaving streaks of destruction and you, permanently damaged. But, while it’s almost impossible to rid yourself of the marks, you can reduce their appearance (in some cases, to the point where people would be hard-pressed to recognize they ever existed). It is also possible to prevent stretch marks in the first place. How do you accomplish all of this? With a steady dose of Vitamin E.
Stretch marks happen when something (the catalyst can be anything from sudden weight gain to sudden muscle expansion) stretches your skin too thin. Think of a piece of fabric: when pulled tighter than its threads can handle, it frays and tears. The same is true of your skin. Vitamin E helps in two ways. First, it makes your skin more elastic, so it has more give and holds up just a little more to the tension caused by weight or muscle gain. Secondly, it speeds up the regeneration process, so that a new layer of skin replaces the old (damaged) layer faster than would otherwise occur.
There are a couple of ways to go about adding more Vitamin E to your life, both of which are fairly simple. One of the ways is to consume it. This is easy because all you have to do is find foods that are high in the vitamin and then eat them. Just add an avocado to your sandwich, olives to your pizza, sweet potato fries to your hamburger, etc. By getting creative, you can improve your skin and have fun at the same time.
Another way to get your Vitamin E is to find a topical stretch mark cream that includes it. The application of this Vitamin E method is easy: generally speaking, you just rub it into clean skin on a regular basis (after a shower is perfect timing). The benefit of this is that you often get additional vitamins and nutrients which are skin-friendly in the same tube of lotion. Look for creams that say “anti-stretch mark” for best results.
Fighting stretch marks can be a long and difficult battle, but in Vitamin E you can have a loyal, effective friend that’s always got your back (or stomach or wherever else the stretch marks may be trying to appear).