Stretch marks - AFTER pregnancy/birth?!?

[midivydale]

Ladies,

Sorry for a rather shallow and trivial post but...

Seriously, i thought i was in the clear (and felt rather smug about it).

Got through 9 mnths with no stretchmarks but after pregnancy they are now appearing thick and fast...

I understand and accept (well kind of) that this is a small price to pay but im just disapointed and feel silly that i thought i was in the clear:(

As clearly the prevention stage is too late any ideas for cure? Or improvement would do :)

On a positive note baby ivydales reflux has improved vastly! Which has given me enough space to worry about serious issues such as stretch marks:)

X

[Saffron]

Well, don't feel bad! Genes are the main determinant of stretch marks, and there isn't much preventatively you can do. I thought I "got away with it" too, but ended up with some marks below the navel in about the last week of pregnancy. They looked awful for about 6 months, then seemed to dramatically improve on their own. Hubbie, bless 'im, was very kind about it all and always maintained he could hardly seem them.

Various preps of vitamins E and A (topically or orally) are touted as improving stretch marks, though results can vary greatly of course. Have you thought about using scar therapy sheeting, like silicon scar sheets, if your marks are very "angry" looking?

When the redness fades, there are threatments like IPL and pixel laser which encourage the growth of new collagen from deep within the skin. I've had both IPL and pixel on my face for acne scarring and sun damage. There is also a new-ish treatment called dermaroller which is meant to be very good for scarring, much cheaper than IPL or pixel. I'd love to know if anyone has had dermaroller treatment, and what the results were like? Just vanity, I know, but I'd love it if the marks would tighten up a bit. The skin in that area is still much squishier, even though the marks themselves are hardly visible.

[Grotty]

I was similar thinking i'd got away without them, then they appeared when 1st daughter was 1 week overdue - i had used bio oil all through pregnancy and continued using for months after - still seemed to look horrid - then with second pregnancy never used any creams/oils and stretch marks were obvious from the minute i started growing. Now second baby is 6 months and again i've used no oils/creams and i have to say the stretch marks seem to be fading on their own - not sure if it is due to concerted effort to try and lose baby weight, but they are much less obvious. I went on a beach holiday after my 1st daughter was born and hid in a swimming costume due to appearance of stretch marks - am about to go on holiday again and have no problem with the idea of a bikini now. I reckon you should just hang in there and see what happens over the next few months xxx