I’m not looking for medical advice on these boards. At least, not advice that I’d use w/o running it past my doctor first.
Can stretch marks be removed? I’ve heard of creams on tv ads, but they prevent marks for pregnant women, not remove them. Seems like something that’s permanent- even after the weight is lost, how can you lose them? Surgery?
We heard a talk from a plastic surgeon last night at the bariatric support group. Surgery will leave a scar. In most cases the scar is horizontal and, if the surgery is done correctly, can be very narrow.
I have a dozen or more surgical scars that have faded over time. Stretch marks do too. They can be cut out and replaced by a hair line scar at some cost.
Surgery seems like an expensive solution to a non-problem, unless you plan to be a belly dancer.
I’ve heard Vitamin E works for people. You either get the oil or get the gel caps and break them open.
I also know people who swear by cocoa butter and shea butter. Again, these are probably better at helping to prevent strechmarks than getting rid of existing ones, but it couldn’t hurt to try.
Vitamin E oil seems to minimize just about any scar. I used it on a long, rather icky scar on my upper arm before my wedding, and it worked very well (I am talking about several months of daily use, though).
depends how old they are - if they’re new, and still purple and raised, vitamin E cream will help fade them to almost nothing.
if they’re old and faded, I think surgery or some sort of laser treatment are the only options that make a really big difference.
There is nothing that will get rid of a strecthmark unless that piece of skin is removed. Stretchmarks are caused by stretching damage to the deep structures of the skin.
They will fade eventually and become less noticable, but without surgery they will never entirely disappear.