thoughts on stretch marks (woman/men)

I know how you feel. My genetics in combination with my obesity led to me getting quite a few of them, a number of which became pretty severe. I still have stretch marks and always will, but they are considerably lighter and smoother now. What personally helped me was Palmer's Stretch Mark lotion in conjunction with a dermaroller. A dermaroller is essentially a small plastic cylinder with tiny metal spikes. They create microscopic tears in the skin that signal the body to send more collagen to that area. It sounds crazy, but I did quite a bit of research before trying it. It takes time, but it does work. If having stretch marks bothers you greatly, I'd look into it. Otherwise, the best thing you can do is learn to accept them and continue taking care of your body. Try to keep focused on what you have accomplished and in the meantime, treat your skin well. Even just getting an adequate amount of water and nutrients can make a big difference over time.

I'm very self conscious about mine, especially since I'm living with my boyfriend. I find myself avoiding going topless because that is the area I have the most of my stretch marks. I have them on my back, my flank areas and on the front of my abdomen, and upper arms (inner area). But I find over time that more than likely they'll be there for life and I can just try with the lotions and moisturizers and keeping hydrated. & my boyfriend still grabs up on me and cuddles on me at night so I don't think stretch marks really mean much to a man. Just gotta embrace it and make the most of it.

I have stretchmarks from a rapid weight gain a few years back. At this point I don't pay any attention to them. They are part of life and most people get them at some point or another.

If they really bother you, then I've heard that cocoa butter helps (as others have said), but like mine as a reminder to help keep myself in check. They are just part of the weight gain/loss process.

If they really bother you, then I've heard that cocoa butter helps (as others have said),

Yes, with regular upkeep, just as with anything else It definitely diminishes them to a point where they are much less visible after some time, even if upkeep is stopped.

I have them on my thighs, butt, lovehandle area, belly, and arms. I also have loose skin from pregnancy and weight loss.

Mine have faded quite a bit with time, but they are still rather prominent albeit flesh toned. Try not to worry about it. There's almost nothing you can do to make them go away. Almost everyone has them, and almost everyone who's lost weight has areas of skin that aren't quite as tight as they'd like as well. Nobody's perfect. Just embrace yourself and be the best version of yourself that you can be.

I have them on my belly and chest from pregnancy and fast weight gain. They've faded over time and are now barely noticeable.

I have heaps of really small ones pretty much covering my upper arms and top of my boobs but these were from puberty and are not even noticeable from any further than 3 feet away any more. I got a lot of really large deep red ones on my tummy from my pregnancy. I used cocoa butter 2-3 times a day the whole way through, but it did nothing for me. They are slowly fading as I am losing weight but I have recently started using a product from Cussions (sp?) called new mum stretch mark fader and actually saw about a 40% reduction in the colour in them in just 2 weeks. May not work for everyone, but it is the only thing I have found that works for me.
The ones on my tummy are the only ones that bother me in terms of looks, but I am less happy with the shape of my belly so wouldn't show it off anyway.
Call me weird, but I won't mind them at all once they have faded as I actually think they feel kind of cool to touch. Don't know why, I just like touching them.

The things is stretch marks are tiny scars and they eventually fade but never truly go away , I have had two daughters 19 months apart my stomach , hips thighs and from my inner thigh to the back of my knees have them and my ,breasts. I hide them well, mine are mostly white so not to bad I suppose, mine are a reminder of my children ,I also have lost 30 lbs so I'm sure they are from that too,Up till the time I became pregnant with my first i had never been overweight luckily but my pregnancies changed that , now I'm healthier and still have 15 or 16 lbs to go but I'm much smaller and close to my pre pregnancy size. I gather if someone said my stretch marks were an issue id tell them in no uncertain terms to go and well you can figure this one out, everyone has some kind of insecurity about themselves whether its stretch marks , weight , face so on instead of focusing on being negative about ones self lest focus on the positive , losing weight , gaining weight pregnancy puberty all can cause these tiny scars one can not hope to have no reminders of ones self before , your skin stretches , and what happens when you stretch something's to far it rips , hence the tiny scars . Keep going forward you are here today making a change within yourself no matter of the packaging beauty is only skin deep.

If you look at my stomach I went from 300 lbs then on the far left 190 and now at 175.00.. I used PALMERS COCO Stick and now I use Mederma on the marks. It seems like it helped to lighten them but you can still see them in certain light..

I have horrible stretch marks on my side, and on the front of my stomach! I even have some on my shoulder tops, which truly sucks!