Stretch marks are a natural part of the growing process.  But the most common scenarios are through puberty,  if you’re a weightlifter, and of course, if you’re a pregnant women.

What are Stretch Marks?

Myth: Stretch marks happen when our skin stretches as our body changes.

Fact: Stretch marks happen when our skin won’t stretch.

Normal skin is made of 80% collagen, and 4% elastin fibers. The elastin is what gives our skin its elasticity and flexibility to stretch as the body changes.  When our skin is dehydrated it lacks elasticity, causing the elastin fibers to tear as the skin stretches. The stretch marks are the scars left behind. But don’t let it worry you, even though it doesn’t look or feel like it, the stretch mark skin is just as healthy and normal as the rest on your body.

*It’s been found that people using steroids or uses steroid creams, end up with more noticeable scarring*

How to Get Rid of Stretch Marks?

Elastin fibers are the hardest thing for the body to effectively repair, and it’s the reason why the skin cannot fully return back to its original look. Many people have their own opinions on what works, and all products will tell you they can do the job. Unfortunately there’s no concrete cure, and at best we could only reduce the appearance of the ones we already have. Naturally, a promising cure to stretch marks seems to be surgery, but everything under the knife seems curable in general…

But how to deal? Or in many cases (including mine), control damage:

Specialist Check. The most reliable source would be to check with your doctor or dermatologist for their input, and your options. They’d have a better idea of what would and wouldn’t work for your skin.

Lotion. Using lotion daily will help keep your skin hydrated and maintain its elasticity. The best time to apply lotion is within 15 minutes after a shower or bath to retain moisture.  Avoid using anything that contains steroids as an ingredient. Lotion with Shea butter, cocoa butter, Vitamin A,C or E are the best for moisturizing.
Secret of the day: I use to work at a health and beauty store, and we would always recommend using lotion to help minimize and prevent the appearance of stretch marks before they happen. Even though we sold creams specifically for stretch marks, they were actually no different than our other quality lotions in the store but it sells better that way. It’s not just my job that did that, many companies do that too. So this is my little secret to keep in mind when shopping around for beauty-solving products.

Baby Oil. Instead of using lotion after showering baby oil is considered to be just as good, if not better in preventing stretch marks. Especially for pregnant women, whose skin will need its elasticity as it stretches.

High-fiber diet. Low fat, high-fiber diet, is important to maintaining a healthy body. Fresh fruits and vegetables are not only great for your body, but foods like cabbage contain essential nutrients like Vitamins A, C & E which is great for your skin.

Exercise. Aside from keeping the skin healthy, whip it into shape. Keep the skin toned and firm by doing some aerobic exercise three or more times a week (i.e. swimming, jogging, walking, etc.)

Sunless Tanning Cream. A popular way to easily camouflage those scars for those who have a darker skin tone. Warning: Laying out in the sun tanning will actually make things worse. Stretch marks can’t naturally tan, and as you get darker the marks will show up more noticeable than ever.

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Jul 27th by Jack