Interesting Facts I Bet You Never Knew About Stretch Marks + Best Treatment Options

So let’s talk about stretch marks. Let me get this straight, I’ve been intimidated by stretch marks right from my teenage years but things turned to another level 8 years ago, when I started weight training. See, I’m a fitness freak & a huge fan of weight training but it gifted me another concern, this time, a harder one, heavy stretch marks. I was so so intimidated by them that I would rethink each time I’d consider wearing sleeveless or showing my midriff.

So I can understand the dilemma young men & women face. So here I have assembled everything I know in a blog post that may help you with your issues related to stretch marks. But at the same time I’d like to mention, it may sound a bit cliché, but hey, stretch marks aren’t going to end your life, neither a bit of that is going to make you unattractive; just be comfortable in your own skin whether or not you have stretch marks because its 2019 & we’re already embracing our flaws & do not let others scar-shame you on that archaic ‘perfect body’ image because there is none. We are humans & we’re flawed.

So let’s move on to the remedies (effectiveness may vary from person to person) which may help you with having your stretch marks disappear a bit but first we need to address some concerns on why they’re there.

Reasons We Get Stretch Marks

·         Changes in physical attributes due to growth:  This is the main reason we get these stretch marks during our teenage years because our body is at actively growing phase & constantly adjusting its shape & size. Growth hormone is more active at that time which results in rapid height growth as well as changes in weight resulting in massive stretch marks on your lower waist, buttocks, knees, calves & on breasts (for women). It is due to the rapid change that leaves little room for the skin to adjust & thus the collagen & elastin break down in response to the tear. However, the good news is, most teen stretch marks later correct on its own & you can afford to be not so conscious about it. If it doesn’t, continue reading.

·         Pregnancy: In this case stretch marks may be limited to your belly region due to the gravid uterus growing way too faster than the skin can adjust. In some cases, due to pregnancy related weight gains, you may also have stretch marks elsewhere. These are usually adult stretch marks & maybe because we lose some of our cell renewal power as we age, these are harder to correct.

·         Weight Training:  While having a muscular & well toned body is sexy but it may have some consequences like if you’ve gained (read muscle growth) fast, you’re likely to have some stretch marks & depending on your age, it may or may not disappear on its own; mine didn’t.

·         Weight Loss or Gain: Sudden weight loss or gain may also contribute to stretch marks, so if you’re trying to lose weight; its normally suggested not to go on a crash diet or something that can make you lose weight at a faster pace than what’s considered healthy. Take some time & give your skin enough time to adjust.

Now we shall discuss the natural remedies first that are said to be effective on stretch marks. But here, I’d like to mention that recently researchers have started questioning the effectiveness of such remedies & most found them to be completely ineffective. But I’ve heard from many people that they worked for them to a certain extent. While personally, if you ask me, I don’t have much faith on these home remedies or natural remedies but you may try them if you please. Because mostly, these are soothing to skin & atleast won’t harm even if they don’t benefit you in this case anyway.

Natural Remedies for Stretch Marks

1.       Shea Butter: Some people consider this to be an awesome skin healing substance, while I don’t disagree to that but how much shea butter would help you in stretch marks, I’m not sure. Shea butter can be found online as thick white or golden solid chunks & the best quality is unrefined golden African shea butter contrary to the ivory shea butter. You can take some of it & add a little bit of rose water & blend it using a mixer/blender & keep it in an airtight container & prepare this in small batches because they can spoil since you’re not using any preservatives. Now cosmetic grade shea butter (mostly the ivory variant) can also be found but expect them to be refined; but since they’re cosmetic grade, they would have some preservatives in this case & also some impurities. But the bright side of that is you can use them as you please & they won’t get spoiled easily. You can also add other ingredients in any form of them as mentioned above like essential oils of your choice if you like. Alternatively shea butter based body butter/lotions are also available but I won’t guarantee the effectiveness.

2.       Cocoa Butter: It can also be found online as unrefined or as cosmetic grade/ready to use crème & cocoa butter based body lotions are also widely available. Cocoa butter is believed to be less effective in healing stretch marks than shea butter but you can certainly try.

3.       Vitamin E: This can be helpful in soothing stretch marks. You can try vitamin E based skin formulations or simply buy some vitamin E capsules & prick them to get the semi liquid substance to mix them in your body oil or lotion to get the same results (store them in a coloured glass/jar). Vitamin E is an oil soluble vitamin, so make sure your base body lotion has some oil content. Vitamin E smoothes skin & it also has antioxidant properties. But remember, vitamin E degrades when exposed to sun (even if you’re indoors), so use this only in the evening. Vitamin E based body lotion has worked for my stretch marks in my early twenties.

4.       Vitamin C: Now, vitamin C is a hero ingredient in smoothing stretch marks. The good news is that it is somewhat if not equally effective as a home remedy, where it is derived from powdered form of vitamin C tablets. But remember, vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, so whatever carrier (lotions, creams) you’re mixing this into, should have some water content. You can add this in your DIY packs or in body milk to apply on the affected areas.

 Alternatively you can also use vitamin C serums which are supposed to be more effective than their DIY cousins because the percentage is well-regulated but can be expensive. Opt for a serum with vitamin C/ ascorbate conc. 10% or more. But just like vitamin E, vitamin C is notoriously unstable in the sun (direct or ambient light), so if you’re going for a store bought option, look for a product in coloured glass bottle & use it only in the evening.

Now coming to the point on why I consider Vitamin C to be the most effective home remedy/therapy for stretch marks because stretch marks are the results of collagen breakdown & vitamin C works more as a catalyst in synthesizing collagen. But how much it works as a topical preparation (anything that’s applied on skin) is mostly controversial because only a very little is absorbed through the epidermis & even less works as an active ingredient. However, I’d also suggest eating vitamin C rich veggies & fruits (if high triglyceride-count isn’t a concern) & you can also pop a vitamin C supplement for a month.

However, there are websites suggesting skin lightening DIY packs (which mostly include lemon, yogurt, honey, aloe etc. ) as a treatment of stretch marks but this is utter bullshit. Yes for darker skinned individuals, removing the tan may help the stretch marks look less obvious but it won’t help them smooth the marks from any angle. So they simply don’t work.

Now coming to the point of professional help, which always gives you better results;

Professional Treatment Options To Improve Stretch Marks

·         Derma Roller or Microneedling: I find this to be the most effective treatment for stretch marks so far. Its especially effective, if after rolling the skin, you apply collagen & vitamin C serums respectively, it’d work like magic. Microneedling stimulates cell cycle & thus helps repair & replace the damaged skin with newer cells. Adding liquid collagen serum along with vitamin C may accelerate the rate of healing. But one thing, there are some people who suffer from scars after dermarolling & this is principally because to some skin types, the minor injury the needles cause poses as a stimulator to melanin synthesis & post inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH/scars) is seen as a result. So if you’re one of those who regularly suffer from PIH, you should better opt out dermarolling as a treatment option. However, please remember, dermarolling is an in-office procedure & should not be tried at home by yourself or you may risk damage to your skin.

·         Chemical Peeling: Although not as effective as microneedling, chemical peeling can help diminish stretch marks to a great extent as it did in my case (I was simply scared of dermarolling, period.). Depending on the depth of damage, it may take some time before you start seeing results. Also from the wide array of available peeling agents, for body, I prefer TCA 30-35%. However, since it is a professional strength, I’d ask you to consult a dermatologist before trying it.  To know more about my TCA peeling experience, click here: https://thebeautyblogoflove.blogspot.com/2018/12/your-ultimate-guide-to-chemical-peeling.html

Although I’ve listed chemical peeling (chemexfoliation) as a treatment option for stretch marks, but I’m still not convinced that mechanically exfoliating works to help diminish the scars, so I’m consciously not mentioning it.  However, you can still try milder chemexfoliation techniques to treat those stretch marks, but please be assured that it’ll take some time. While I don’t suggest using the following chemexfoliating agents right before (except for what you’re doing to prime the skin before peeling, as your dermat suggests or read the above link about my TCA peeling experience to know more about it) or after 2 weeks of your chemical peeling date, as you’re still recovering; you can wait for a month for your skin to completely recover before you use any of them.

1.       Glycolic Acid cream: Milder cousin to the glycolic acid solution used to chemically peel the skin. But at a conc. of 12% it works really well for the body skin. It works more or less the same way, by helping the cells in stratum corneum (topmost epidermal layer) to slough off & encourages them to be replaced by fresh new cells.

2.       Salicylic Acid cream: It’s a Beta Hydroxy Acid, which means, it’d penetrate even deeper than its Alpha Hydroxy Acid cousin glycolic acid or other members of the AHA family, working the same way though. Unfortunately, in India what I find as a standard salicylic acid cream, is extremely oily, almost like a balm & it DOES NOT SUIT my already oily skin.

3.       Azelaic Acid cream: Another AHA family member & works well for some. But personally, it never worked for me neither for tan removal nor for stretch marks. Like a typical AHA, it works by exfoliating the top layer. In India, its usually found in two conc. 10 & 20% respectively & you should always begin treatment with 10% & gradually go up. I’ve recently seen some peeling agents based on azelaic acid too (don’t know how it performs though).

4.       Retinoids: Retinoids are the old but gold standard in exfoliating to soothe stretch marks. There are many variants available these days apart from our old friend tretinoin (start with .025% & gradually go upto .05%) like adapalene (0.1%) & tazarotene etc. Apply any of them once, preferably at night before bed on the stretch marks & you’ll see some results in 3 months.

So that’s all for today & I hope this post helped you clear some of the myths & I also hope you enjoyed reading it. Now, for any medical procedure, I’d always suggest you to consult a dermatologist before going in for it. Above suggestions are no substitutes to professional help.

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Love,

Koyel M.