Stretch marks

Has anybody had any problems with stretch marks while losing weight??? My skin is already stretch mark sensitive and I am afraid if i lose too much i'll just get more strectch marks. I don't know if the weight loss will be worth it??? Please help i already have self esteem issues with these scars!!!

Replies

  • PicNic00
    PicNic00 Posts: 269 Member
    I have them.... from gaining and losing, oh and babies....
    I call them battle scars.
  • chris1816
    chris1816 Posts: 715 Member
    Eat vitamin e rich foods, take your fish oil, moisturize, moisturize, moisturize and as with all things.

    Give it time. Say out loud to yourself, "I care more about stretch marks than losing weight and being healthy" a few times and see if you genuinely mean it.

    Sounds kind of stupid to be honest.
  • bmw4deb
    bmw4deb Posts: 1,324 Member
    Stretch marks usually happen from gaining weigjt
    the one's you already have may be more noticable
    but can be improved with toning
  • nas24
    nas24 Posts: 880 Member
  • KaidaKantri
    KaidaKantri Posts: 401
    I've actually seen someone that had stretch marks, and then got them to go away. I've always heard this was impossible, but after seeing actual pictures of it, from someone I know, I believe it.. I dunno how though. I say research it.
  • Typhanee83
    Typhanee83 Posts: 309 Member
    My twins already did me in on this. It can't get any worse. That's all I'm going to say.
  • msudaisy28
    msudaisy28 Posts: 267 Member
    I could be wrong, but I thought that the stretch marks were created from gaining weight (or growing quickly, like in pregnancy) rather than losing weight. I would think you wouldn't get any new stretch marks unless you are strength training and building muscle that is in different places than the fat that you are losing.
  • kandrews24
    kandrews24 Posts: 610 Member
    stretch marks don't come from losing weight, so don't worry about that

    just lose slowly, hydrate inside and out, and focus on the positive side of being thin, fit, and healthy

    lots of great products (some do really help with stretch marks and/or lose skin)

    toning is helpful and often tanning hides them a bit
  • AegyooSasoou
    AegyooSasoou Posts: 23 Member
    @Nas24 lol....thanks that was funny thanks for that......but i am still pretty young and afraid to get a boyfriend because of them. I don't even show my legs
  • juliedozier
    juliedozier Posts: 184 Member
    Yep! I have stretch marks and think I will end up with some really ugly excess skin. Of course I wish it were different, however, it's all part of who I am and the journey I'm on. We'll see!
  • AegyooSasoou
    AegyooSasoou Posts: 23 Member
    Thanks for all the helpful tips. But i am black can anyone suggest any tanning lotions that get your real dark???
  • cbferriss
    cbferriss Posts: 122
    Oh, honey!!!!!!!!! I'm 110lbs down from my biggest and I look like a road map. I've read and read and have only seen a few treatments that improve them at all. I think it was an expensive laser treatment.
  • Josette89
    Josette89 Posts: 244
    You wont get stretch marks from just losing weight. You get them from gaining large amounts of weight and having weak collagen in your skin. Your skin stretches beyond what it can handle to create the mark, then when you lose the weight they either get lighter or darker depending on your skin type. I get stretch marks easily. When I lose weight it's like they were never there unless you look close enough. Just moisturize your skin frequently preferably with lotion specifically for stretch marks. It doesn't have to be the expensive kind. I use Jergens. Or Cocoa Butter.
  • LilMsRobbinHood
    LilMsRobbinHood Posts: 6 Member
    I'm really confused - the minor stretch marks I had on my belly got more pronounced once I started to LOSE weight and now that I've lost 15 pounds, they are even more pronounced. Why is this?
  • _Punjab
    _Punjab Posts: 67


    ^^^^this.

    I'm not too worried about my stretch marks. Personally, I see them as battle scars, and they make me feel kind of empowered. I see them, and it reminds me of all the great work that I'm doing and what I'm doing it for. One day, if I'm ever thin and confident enough to go out wearing a bikini for all the world to see, I'm just going to be like, "Yeah, I may have been big enough once that I now have stretch marks. So what? I ain't anymore, b***********ches!!!!!" =]
  • AegyooSasoou
    AegyooSasoou Posts: 23 Member
    congrats on your weight loss.....I hope they come up with a treatment soon to help us out
  • Josette89
    Josette89 Posts: 244
    @Nas24 lol....thanks that was funny thanks for that......but i am still pretty young and afraid to get a boyfriend because of them. I don't even show my legs
    Believe me.... The boys don't care. Most of them don't even know what they are :) The good men will understand, I'm sure they aren't perfect either. I used to have the same fears. I had stretch marks since I was in my teens. Now I have even worse scars from a car accident, I just say screw it. The key is to show that you are confident and proud of who you are. :)
  • AegyooSasoou
    AegyooSasoou Posts: 23 Member
    @Josette89 Thank you for that. That made me feel a lot better. Its just that there are so much perfect girls walking around lol ya kno
  • _Punjab
    _Punjab Posts: 67
    P.S. Yes you can get stretch marks from losing weight. When you're putting on a lot of weight quickly, you can get stretch marks because pressure is being put on your skin to cover the larger area and the skin breaks. When you lose weight too quickly, you can ALSO get stretch marks because the skin is under pressure to shrink to a smaller shape. I once heard someone call them shrink marks instead of stretch marks?

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/31082-avoid-stretch-marks-losing-weight/

    ^^^^ a little advice on how to prevent them
  • droogievesch
    droogievesch Posts: 202
    Check into "Red Light Therapy". My gym has it for free along with free tanning. I can't say whether or not it works because I haven't personally done it (do plan to).
  • wonderkitten711
    wonderkitten711 Posts: 109 Member
    Mine have gotten smaller as I've lost weight. Drink lots of water, moisturize regularly, make sure you're getting your vitamins. Also, try to view any that linger as battle scars. I have stretch marks, and I also have several surgery scars from battles with cancer when I was younger...they're all just scars that mark the struggles I've survived that have made me who I am. If you don't let them bother you, they won't bother others, especially anyone that cares about you.
  • vsecret921
    vsecret921 Posts: 100 Member
    real women have stretch marks :)
  • cobaltis
    cobaltis Posts: 191 Member
    Stretch marks come from gaining weight, not losing it... (aka the stretching part) If you lose the weight you wont create new ones... I personally have a lot but I would rather be more fit and lean than re-fill out the extra skin!

    The stretch marks appear differently but there is no "pressure" to shrink, its a lack of pressure that allows the skin to retract. Your not adding new ones, it just allows some wrinkles where stretch marks were to appear until it tightens (if it does...) Think of elastic stretched out, it cant retract all the way but given some time with the pressure gone it will slowly shrink up more. No elastic bands break while the tension is gone but you might notice more broken elastic threads in the band as it shrunk.
  • AegyooSasoou
    AegyooSasoou Posts: 23 Member
    Thanks for all the great answers guys .....i already feel more confident and will go ahead with my weight loss once again....I'll be sure to take my vitaamins, drink lots of water and moisturize moisturize moisturize :smile:
  • droogievesch
    droogievesch Posts: 202
    @Nas24 lol....thanks that was funny thanks for that......but i am still pretty young and afraid to get a boyfriend because of them. I don't even show my legs
    Believe me.... The boys don't care. Most of them don't even know what they are :) The good men will understand, I'm sure they aren't perfect either. I used to have the same fears. I had stretch marks since I was in my teens. Now I have even worse scars from a car accident, I just say screw it. The key is to show that you are confident and proud of who you are. :)

    I was surprised to find that a lot of guys get stretch marks when they go through their growth spurt. My fiance, who isn't a "big" guy has stretch marks on his hips/butt/thighs because he grew over 4" or 6" within a summer or something like that. I've seen so many guys with the stretch marks in the armpit areas too. Maybe I'm really jaded, but any guy that's superficial enough to care about my stretch marks doesn't deserve me. I love the Body Shop's lotions because they are all natural/organic.
  • missquela
    missquela Posts: 60 Member
    I agree with all that's been said- embrace your battle scars, because losing weight is hard freakin work, and you have the proof of how hard you've worked to carry with you and inspire you.

    That being said- a friend of mine has been using vitamin E oil nightly on her stretch marks, and we can see a noticeable difference after 6 weeks. They are still there, but have lightened considerably. A trick she uses is to buy actual vitamins from walgreens and poking a hole in the gel cap and applying the gel directly to the affected skin. I'm giving it a try, so I'll be sure to let you guys know if I get similar results!
  • nailtechbec
    nailtechbec Posts: 93 Member
    I have LOADS of stretch marks from my pregnancies and lack of stretchy skin I have found bio oil applied twice a day really helps with their appearance x