How to get rid of stretch marks?

May 19, 2005 11:16 AM

Does anyone have any advice/experience with trying to get rid of or lessen the appearance of stretch marks.

Due to rapid weight gain and loss, I have embarrassing stretch marks in places not easily concealed by clothing. They are still newish (red/purple and quite dramatic), but even when they fade naturally, they are so dramatic that I'm afraid I'll never be able to wear shorts again.

I've googled and found tons of miracle products, but do they work? I've also search various forums and found mixed/contrasting reviews for each product in addition to claims that nothing works. It is very discouraging.

Has anyone found anything that works or do I have to face the possibility that I'm stuck with them forever?

posted by anonymous to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (15 answers total)

From everything I've ever seen, they definitely do fade over time (although the speed with which that's going to happen probably goes down with age). I had horizontal stretch marks across my shoulders when I grew and started lifting a lot of weights in late adolescence, and while they were pretty livid for a couple of years, they're pretty much unnoticeable now. My wife--who's been through two pregnancies--doesn't really have obvious stretch marks 3 or 4 years later.

One solution I know my wife used was vitamin E, which is generally pretty good for helping heal things like scars, etc. You can just buy those gelcaps, cut them open, and use the gooey stuff inside. (They seemed to help pretty well.)
posted by LairBob at 11:27 AM on May 19, 2005

I'm going to second the use of vitamin. Friend I knew who lifted heavily would rub the vitamin E goo on the stretch marks when they first showed up, and then take the caps after that.
posted by bDiddy at 11:36 AM on May 19, 2005

Some people get laser treatments to lessen the redness of stretch marks. It would be an immediate fix to the problem, though you would still have the underlying "stretch" scars.
posted by blackkar at 11:37 AM on May 19, 2005

Vitamin E is a wonderful suggestion. In addition to taking a capsule a day, I'd apply the oil twice a day until the marks are as faded as they're going to get, then once every couple of days after that. You might also want to look into Strivectin (or maybe Revitacil). While many people are using it for wrinkle prevention, it was originally intended for stretch marks. It's pricey, though.
posted by Specklet at 12:12 PM on May 19, 2005

According to Paula Begoun, tretinoin might help. That, or laser treatments or chemical peels. Moisturizers and Vitamin E likely won't help.
posted by biscotti at 12:14 PM on May 19, 2005

Short answer: nothing short of surgery will make them go all the way away. Pretend you're Kim Gordon and wear tights under your shorts (punk rock!) or accept them as a badge of honor like any other scar. A friend of mine is the mother of twins, she calls them her "racing stripes".
posted by cali at 12:59 PM on May 19, 2005

Do be careful with high doses of vitamin E; recent reports have suggested that high doses (400IU, or roughly one gel cap) aren't all that good for you. Topical application (directly on the skin) seems like a better idea than ingesting a whole bunch of it - just don't take more than a pill a day, for sure.

BBC comment on a Johns-Hopkins study, with about.com commentary saying it's not all that big a deal.
posted by metaculpa at 1:18 PM on May 19, 2005

Yeah, there's no way they'll go away completely just through time or topical treatments. They just become kind of silvery and then basically just skin-colored, so you can't really see them any more unless you look close.

(Just in case I wasn't being clear, I was definitely talking about using vitamin E as an ointment, directly on the stretch marks. Self-prescribing mega-doses of any nutritional supplement is generally a bad idea.)
posted by LairBob at 1:33 PM on May 19, 2005

A combination of hydroxy acids copper peptides did the trick for a few of my (non-stretch mark) scars, though it took about a year. There are quite a few people on the Skin Biology forums that have had good luck with this strategy for stretch marks.
posted by 4easypayments at 1:44 PM on May 19, 2005

It's probably not a solution to everyone, but I've just started tattooing over them. They don't take the ink particularly well (ie: touch ups seem to be more significant) but it does the trick.
posted by pookzilla at 2:07 PM on May 19, 2005

One of my midwives recommended Mederma to me when I asked how to minimize the breast and thigh stretch marks I got from pregnancy. It did seem to help. I've also used Vitamin E goop (break open the capsules), which has worked for me many times in skin healing.

I have seen other nursing mothers recommend Mustela products for stretch marks. I can't say if they work, as I'm still trying to decide if the price is worth it for me, but reviews I've read have been mostly quite positive.
posted by Melinika at 2:17 PM on May 19, 2005

I get cocoa butter from the supermarket or drug store [just the raw stuff, not the moisturizers that say they have cocoa butter in them] and it seems to help some. All the rubbing in general is good for the appearance of cellulite in those areas as well. It also smells amazing, and you can use it in Thai cooking.
posted by jessamyn at 5:56 PM on May 19, 2005

Again here with the vitamin E - I just bought a good moisturiser with Vitamin E as a major ingredient and made sure I used it every time I got out of the shower. The stretch marks have faded over time to the point where, two years after having a baby, they're unnoticeable unless you know where to look, as just thin silvery lines.

I've also been told just to learn to live with them (back when they were still quite livid). I wonder if different things work with different people, maybe.
posted by tracicle at 7:37 PM on May 19, 2005

I got some Bio oil to deal with the aftermath of being punched in the face (on an email recommendation from a mefite, whose ID I've since forgotten).

When I showed it to a pregnant friend, she told me that it's touted as miracle stuff in the UK ante-natal groups for stretch marks. Whether it is just this year's snake oil, or whether it really works, is hard to tell. It seems to have all the ingredients that people recommend (vitamin E, vitamin A, lavender oil..). But a plastic surgeon I spoke with at a conference told me that nothing really helps - and the increased blood flow due to massaging would probably have a beneficial effect - so you might as well use chip oil.

My results are that my (3 month old. 2 inch long, 7 stitches, right through the nose) scar is now hard to see unless you know where to look. My guess is it's probably worth trying with stretch marks.
posted by handee at 1:34 AM on May 20, 2005

vitamin E for this application can be had a lot cheaper (and friendlier IMO) from the Aloe Vera plant. Just cut off a section of leaf and then split it length wise. Use the goopy core of the plant like you would the capsules.
posted by Mitheral at 12:58 PM on May 25, 2005