Removing Stretch Marks
We will start by answering the question: What are stretch marks?
According to Justin Leonard, ISSA CFT stretch marks are when the skin collagen (fiber under the skin) is damaged. This can be extremely hard to repair. Stretch marks start out as red lines when the skin is stretching at a fast pace and then turn into a whitish scar as the skin attempts to repair itself.
What causes stretch marks?
A common cause for stretch marks is rapid weight gain. This often is the case for pregnant women, teenagers or women going through menopause. Excessive weight loss and bodybuilding are other causes. Whenever the skin is being stretched at a rapid rate or changing you can experience damage in the skin cells, which usually results in stretch marks.
How do you get rid of ugly stretch marks?
Getting rid of stretch marks is a difficult task. There is no evidence that you can actually remove them permanently. Although with proper diet and exercise you can significantly improve their appearance and strengthen the skin in the problem areas. There are creams, pills and laser procedures available to help drastically reduce the appearance of your stretch marks but according to Leonard once the skin is damage there is little you can do.
What products are the best for removing/fading stretch marks?
There are so many products available that claim they can remove or fade stretch marks, but most of them are costly. A natural remedy that has been around for decade is using cocoa butter. Some pregnant women claim if you rub cocoa butter (lotion or cream) on your belly every day then you can prevent a significant amount of stretch marks from even appearing. I have put this theory to the test and by doing so I have decreased the amount of stretch marks appearing during my second pregnancy, but there may be some speculations because my skin might have already been stretched out from the first pregnancy, so you can decide if this is an accurate assumption. The cocoa butter theory is an inexpensive one to try so it might be one you can experiment with without hurting your pocket book. Some other natural preventative measures are using olive oil or vitamins A and E. Drinking plenty of water is a good step to prevention because it keeps the skin hydrated.
Top of the line cosmetic companies like Clarions, Avon, Estee Lauder and LancÃ?¯Ã?¿Ã?½me all carry body creams that are supposed to help with stretch mark prevention or repair. Because this is such a lucrative industry a lot of companies want to “get in on the action.”
There are also products like Trilastin, a new stretch mark cream on the market or Heal Stretch Marks, which is advertised as a natural remedy to getting rid of stretch marks and scares. You have to take into consideration manufacturers want to sell their products so all of them claim, “to be the best.” In order to find a product that works for you, you most likely will have to do some experimenting on your own. You will have to decide how much money you are willing to spend on products.
Laser surgery is another option but it can be expensive and again it doesn’t remove them permanently, it only aids in fading them and making them less noticeable. The laser attacks the darker areas and this procedure works best on recent stretch marks.
How can you remove/fad stretch marks without spending a lot of money?
If you don’t want o spend a lot of money on stretch mark removal the best thing to do is improve your diet and exercise regularly. Let your body begin to repair itself. If you can tighten the areas that have stretch marks then your skin can begin to heal itself. Also you can use the products mentioned above like vitamins E and A which improves the skins appearance. You might have to be patient with these inexpensive remedies, but in the end I think you will see the stretch marks begin to fade.
