Getting Rid Of Stretch Marks

One of my closest friends has recently become a first time mom and yes, she got those dreaded "badges of honor" and wanted to learn how to get rid of stretch marks. Naturally, she came to me because I'd already been through that hell and I figured out the process of getting rid of stretch marks naturally.

Throughout her pregnancy, she was absolutely aglow. This was thanks, in part, to the hormones that her body was releasing so that she could safely carry and successfully nourish the baby. She was also incredibly happy about having a baby, and she was very careful to stay as healthy as possible throughout all of those nine months.

Of course, over the course of her pregnancy, her hormone levels didn’t just give her skin a pink glow; it also caused her body to expand. All of this… growth had a few side-effects though. For one thing, because of her fluctuating hormones, she was far more susceptible to stretch marks on her breasts and belly. I myself got striae all over my butt and on parts of my boobs.

After she gave birth and lost most of her baby weight, the stretch marks stayed. This is exactly the same thing that happened to me so she contacted me for help concocting a home remedy to lose stretch marks.

Of course, one question that may be on a lot of people’s minds is, “can stretch marks go away in the first place?”

The answer is, yes.

Despite that though, there is still no single hard and fast answer to the question of how to lose stretch marks. It took me months of experimenting. A lot of people sniff around and do research to see what works best for them.

With time and consistent application for example, a lot of people swear that stretch mark creams and oils can make stretch marks fade, or even heal stretch marks altogether. There are also procedures –such as laser treatments and dermabrasion- that have also been known to be quite effective.

For people who have stretch marks along their abdomens, tummy tucks are also a great way to hide those stretch marks. The problem with tummy tucks, though, is that since the skin under your belly button (where stretch marks along the abdomen most frequently occur) is removed, even though you probably won’t have any stretch marks anymore, you’ll probably still get some scarring.

For people who don’t want to undergo steps as drastic as laser treatment or tummy tucks, applying creams and home-made remedies to stretch marks can also be a great way to alleviate the problem.

I would suggest you skip all those expensive creams because:

• the active, working ingredients are usually "watered down"
• they're overpriced
• you can make your own treatments that are much more effective (I'll teach you how in just a second)
• they usually contain harmful chemicals (just do some research about paraben preservatives, mineral oil and synthetic fragrances)

Some of the ingredients in effective over-the-counter stretch mark relief products include grape seed extract, glycolic acid, vitamin E, and Aloe Vera. Each of these ingredients interacts with human skin in a different way; as antioxidants that keep the skin from aging and getting damaged further (vitamin E and grape seed extract), as exfoliating substances that reduce dead skin cell buildup (glycolic acid), and as soothing and healing agents that reduce inflammation and help skin recover from damage (Aloe Vera).

Good stretch mark creams usually have one or a combination of these ingredients, but if you don’t want to shell out the money for these dermatological products, or simply don’t feel like going all the way to the drugstore, a natural remedy for your stretch marks could already be sitting in your kitchen.

When my friend came to me about her stretch mark problem, one of the first things I did (after scouring reference books on the subject so that I wouldn’t look ignorant), was ask her if I could poke around in her kitchen.

There, I found a whole wealth of ingredients for a home made remedy to lose stretch marks. Many don’t even require any mixing.

Natural plant oils

True to its reputation as one of the healthiest oils out there, simply applying some extra virgin olive oil to the affected area not only nourishes and softens the skin, but can also relieve the stretch marks. Applying it onto your baby bump even before you get stretch marks in the first place is also a great way to prevent stretch marks.

However, it may not be potent enough if you already have striae to deal with. In that case, you can take a look at the exact steps I took to remove my stretch marks.

But, back to the lesson about healthy natural foods and how they help prevent a variety of scars...

There is a reason why parents always tell you to eat your vegetables: they’re good for you! And to emphasize that point, did you know that eating lots of green, leafy vegetables, liver, dairy products, and other foods rich in zinc, iron, fiber, and other vitamins and minerals can help you get your stretch marks to fade?

Another great, stretch mark-removing item to add to your diet would be nuts, such as Brazil nuts, pecans, and pumpkin seeds. The zinc in these tasty, high fiber and high energy treats help promote healing and prevent infection. Since stretch marks are essentially torn skin tissue (sometimes, when a part of a person’s body over-stretches, the middle layer of skin, or the dermis, can tear, which is how stretch marks happen), this means that zinc is essential to making sure that that tissue heals.

Aside from olive oil, rubbing areas with stretch marks with lavender oil, cocoa butter, or apricot scrub two to three times a day can also help a lot. This works well for people with newer stretch marks that haven't turned white yet.

The stretch mark remedy that my friend liked the most though, takes a little more effort to make than simply reaching into the cupboard and smearing it onto the tummy and breasts. What we did was, we took out six vitamin E capsules and four vitamin A capsules, half a cup of olive oil, and one forth cup of Aloe Vera gel, and we combined it all in a blender. My friend placed some of it on her stretch marks and stored the rest in the fridge. She still applies this homemade mixture twice a day, and her stretch marks have already started to disappear.

I took a different approach to get rid of mine (I erased mines a few years ago) and you can read about exactly what I did to remove stretch marks here.