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Quote:

Originally Posted by tatsneedles (Post 37837)

Hah, thanks guys, what's with stretch mark i just accumulated this lately, from constantly gaining a losing significant amounts of weight, is there anything i can use, i'm using some shitty cream right now, is there anything else

Unfortunately, once you get a stretch mark, it's hard to get rid of it. It's a scar. Basically it's caused by your skin's natural elasticity not being able to keep up with drastic change. It tears, and thus creates the stretch mark.

As long as yours are still brand new (they'll be pink/purple, often slightly raised, sometimes itchy or tender) then you can still try to reduce their appearance right away. Once they've been there a while, there's not much you can do.

Things you can do to reduce the appearance of new ones:

*Keep VERY well hydrated. Your skin needs moisture for repair.

*Non-alcohol based lotions/creams. Most lotions have alcohol in them. Check the label. There are a few that don't, and with your tats, I'm sure you've used some of them for the initial healing phase. (Is it A&D ointment that a lot of tat shops recommend?) Morning and night, put some on. Hell, even vaseline works wonders.

*DO NOT SCRATCH! Initially it's very sensitive. There's already been trauma to the skin. It's trying to repair itself. Scratching will only destroy more of the new cells that are trying to mature around the stretch mark. Scrathing the area can make it worse (more scarring). And no one wants that.

The only way to completely eliminate stretch marks is through surgical procedures. Either by removal of the scarred area (like what happens in a tummy tuck, which also leaves another scar) or laser scar repair. The lasering is the less intrusive of the options (obviously) but isn't always 100% effective. It's based on skin type and severity of the scarring.