STRETCH MARKS

Fantabulosity1
Fantabulosity1 Posts: 41
edited November 8 in Fitness and Exercise
I've been checking out different forums and I've run across many before and after pictures that puzzle me. And not all of them have been photoshopped either. HOW do people get rid of their stretch marks? I'm grateful for that fact that this body gave birth to three amazing people and obviously I went through some changes.

Replies

  • lovechattys
    lovechattys Posts: 65 Member
    Mine have simple faded with time. Although I never had a ton. I got a small patch (about size of my fist) on my right side of my stomach with my last child. I wear it like a badge of honor (took three kids to put it there, lol)
    Others than time or surgery, I don't think much can be done.
  • Fantabulosity1
    Fantabulosity1 Posts: 41
    lovechattys wrote: »
    Mine have simple faded with time. Although I never had a ton. I got a small patch (about size of my fist) on my right side of my stomach with my last child. I wear it like a badge of honor (took three kids to put it there, lol)
    Others than time or surgery, I don't think much can be done.

    Thanks so much. I know about that whole badge of honor, but I have boomerangs for children because they KEEP coming back and now I have a grandchild coming too soooooooooooooooooo. It's all good though! LOL! Many thanks again!
  • lovechattys
    lovechattys Posts: 65 Member
    Congratulations!
  • xoemmytee
    xoemmytee Posts: 162 Member
    I put on some Body Acceptance cream at least once a day and make sure to throw out those Societal Beauty Standards.
  • Lelah77
    Lelah77 Posts: 177 Member
    I have zebra stripes. Like, a LOT of them - Rib cage to pelvis, hip to hip. They are permanent and they are SO VISIBLE. It doesn't matter how thin I get. They are hideous and ugly and I earned them fair and square (I am on pregnancy #3 right now).
    All I can say is: Some people have fantastic genes and aren't prone to stretch marks... then there's people (like me) who will get stretch marks and call them our "badge of motherhood glory".
    *shrug* Embrace them.
  • Fantabulosity1
    Fantabulosity1 Posts: 41
    Thanks ladies! Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'll ever rock a bikini, but I COULD - I'm just that confident! But I was wondering after looking at those pics. I guess I should've kept scrolling... :p
  • yogaveg
    yogaveg Posts: 68 Member
    i used to have stretch marks on my boobs :open_mouth: but they have faded over time. i just checked on them and you could barely tell that they're there! it doesn't bother me and it's never bothered anyone who has seen them. i also have self harm scars that look a lot like stretch marks all over my hips and in the summer i wear swimsuits but no one has even said anything or stared too long. just keep moisturized!
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    yogaveg wrote: »
    i used to have stretch marks on my boobs :open_mouth: but they have faded over time. i just checked on them and you could barely tell that they're there! it doesn't bother me and it's never bothered anyone who has seen them. i also have self harm scars that look a lot like stretch marks all over my hips and in the summer i wear swimsuits but no one has even said anything or stared too long. just keep moisturized!

    Not if they're straight. fo sho, fo sho.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,989 Member
    Stretch marks are actually scars, so you never get rid of them. You can camoflauge them though.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    Why not have a tattoo artist fill them in with ink? That might actually be pretty cool.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Fantabulosity1 wrote: »
    I've been checking out different forums and I've run across many before and after pictures that puzzle me. And not all of them have been photoshopped either. HOW do people get rid of their stretch marks? I'm grateful for that fact that this body gave birth to three amazing people and obviously I went through some changes.

    Are you sure they are actually gone? You can't always see mine in my pictures, but they are there (just faded).

  • LazyButHealthy
    LazyButHealthy Posts: 257 Member
    Fantabulosity1 wrote: »
    Thanks ladies! Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'll ever rock a bikini, but I COULD - I'm just that confident! But I was wondering after looking at those pics. I guess I should've kept scrolling... :p

    You know what? If i get as fit as I'd like to be, then I'll be wearing a bikini and I don't give a daaaaaamn who can see my stretch marks!

    Be fit, be healthy, be happy.
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,280 Member
    Stretch marks never go away, they can become less noticeable as the skin recovers but they're always and will always be there. Only thing is try to avoid them in the first place but once the damage is done, it's done.
  • llUndecidedll
    llUndecidedll Posts: 724 Member
    I don't know how people get rid of their stretch marks.

    I have stretch marks everywhere--- chest, breasts, abdomen, sides, back, back of knees, thighs, upper arms. I've had them for years [and I've never been pregnant. Just morbidly obese] . They become more noticeable as I lose weight. I have a dark complexion, so they stand out a lot, and I doubt they will ever fade into the background. This depresses me so much, especially knowing how bad they'll look once I reach my goal weight....
  • rides4sanity
    rides4sanity Posts: 1,269 Member
    At my heaviest I was at 196 (I'm 5' 1.5")... My smallest is 110, I'm probably 115 now... Here are pictures and a story to go with it. Things get better with time, and stretch marks show up less when I'm tan...

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1444061/loose-skin-my-experience#latest
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    I'm not a consultant, but I have used the the Arbonne RE9 firming body cream with success to significantly reduce stretch marks. I started off just using it on half my belly so I could very easily see the results - totally amazing.
    http://www.amazon.com/Arbonne-Advanced-Firming-Body-Cream/dp/B003DWKZ4S/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1415733487&sr=8-18&keywords=arbonne+re9
  • willrun4bagels
    willrun4bagels Posts: 838 Member
    Mine have faded, no kids here - I have a lot of them all over, but a growth spurt at age 13 gave me some weird ones on the tops of my shoulders (like from my clavicle spreading back towards my trapezius muscles on both sides)... I've been 6'2" since I was 13 years old. They all fade with time. And we also notice them on ourselves way more than anyone else looking at us would notice them. They are not as noticeable as we think. :)
  • estitom
    estitom Posts: 205 Member
    I had anorexia when I was in my teens and I had to gain weight quite fast, giving me some additional stretch marks (except for the normal puberty ones). Some of them are fading, some aren't. When it comes to pictures, I'm pretty sure some people photoshop their pictures, while some people hasn't gone through that many changes. Probably depends on what kinds of stretch marks they have. Mine are mostly located to my thighs and breasts, and are easy to hide, which is probably the case for some people.

    Don't compare yourself too much to others pictures. Photoshop may be involved, and maybe not. It doesn't really matter. Your body is hardcore anyway :D
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I find that mine go in phases of super visible and not so visible. They seem to show up more right when I have what I can only call a whoosh. Then they fade a bit when the skin tightens a bit. They never totally go away though.
  • Fantabulosity1
    Fantabulosity1 Posts: 41
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    Fantabulosity1 wrote: »
    I've been checking out different forums and I've run across many before and after pictures that puzzle me. And not all of them have been photoshopped either. HOW do people get rid of their stretch marks? I'm grateful for that fact that this body gave birth to three amazing people and obviously I went through some changes.

    Are you sure they are actually gone? You can't always see mine in my pictures, but they are there (just faded).

    You could be right. They may just be faded and I can't tell that well from the picture.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    You don't "get rid" of them. All of the pictures in my profile are of me, and I am covered in stretch marks from my son. (no, the photos are not airbrushed). It takes time for them to fade, and they will never be completely gone without surgery. That said, I used Elastin 3 stretch mark cream after my son, and it made a HUGE improvement. I know it worked, because I used it on my belly stretch marks and not the ones on my hips, and to this day, the hip marks are significantly more ugly and noticeable than the ones on my stomach.

    Elastin-31-200x200.jpg
  • Fantabulosity1
    Fantabulosity1 Posts: 41
    Well well well. I'm still trying to lose the baby weight after 19 years ( :p ) so will Elastin 3 work for me?
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
    What's the quality of the camera? My cousin is a professional photographer and in her pictures of me at my sister's wedding you could see the stretch marks on my boobs. They didn't exist in the point and shoot camera photos.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,407 Member
    Where would you buy Elastin 3?
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    edited December 2014
    amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=elastin+3&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=3587943735&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6783125018898464451&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_4mzqiqq5bo_e

    Googled Elastin 3, second result.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    even with surgery you cant get rid of them. I watched some woman get liposuction and cosmetic surgery to get rid of them.the plastic surgeon told her that you cant get rid of them. you can make them look less noticeable. but they are tears under the skin where the skin had stretched too far(like a rubber band) and if you dont have enough elasticity you will most likely end up with them.

    They arent genetic like people claim them to be or at least in my family thats crap lol. my mom had 5 kids(she is thin anyway) and she doesnt have any stretchmarks. 4 out of the 5 of us had kids and have them, and the other one has them from weight issues.my grandma(moms mom)didnt have them and my dads mom didnt have them either.

    you can buy products to fade and help reduce the appearance but you cant heal them or get rid of them no matter what product/treatment
    you use.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    Not everyone gets strech marks. I didn't get any with a pregnancy nor weight gain. I do have a wobbily tummy though, left over from a weight gain.
  • Fantabulosity1
    Fantabulosity1 Posts: 41
    Thanks for the info everyone. I guess me and my stretch marks will be friends for a while. I'll work on their visibility and roll with them... ;)
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