Stretch marks affect more than half of pregnant women, many teens going through puberty and lots of people who've gained weight. There may be little you can do to prevent them, according to MayoClinic.com, and getting rid of them poses challenges as well. Most treatments aim to minimize their appearance rather than erase them altogether because they're notoriously difficult to get rid of. The good news is that they pose no medical threat. Talk to your doctor and develop a treatment plan that will best address the needs of your skin.
Step 1
Start an exercise and muscle-toning program. Stretch marks occur when skin stretches, such as during a growth spurt, pregnancy or weight gain. Often, when you eliminate the strain on your skin, your stretch marks shrink away. Exercise for 30 minutes per day, five days a week, and perform strength-training exercises twice per week, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
Step 2
Do sit-ups, crunches or take yoga and Pilates classes to tone the muscles in your waistline. Toning muscles in areas where you have stretch marks can help reduce them, according to "The Doctor's Book of Home Remedies."
Step 3
Eat a nutritious diet that contains plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Include foods rich in zinc, vitamin D, vitamin A and protein, according to the Cleveland Clinic. These nutrients keep your skin healthy, improve its elasticity and prevent future stretch marks.
Step 4
Apply a topical tretinoin cream to new stretch marks before you've had them for six weeks, according to MayoClinic.com. Tretinoin doesn't eliminate stretch marks, but it makes them less noticeable. Don't use tretinoin if you're pregnant.
Step 5
Schedule a cosmetic procedure like a chemical peel or dermabrasion treatment. These treatments slough away the top layers of your skin so new, smoother skin can grow in to replace it. Chemical peels and dermabrasion may reduce the appearance of stretch marks, but newer technologies like laser treatments might work better, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Step 6
Try pulsed dye, excimer or fractional photothermolysis laser treatments. Lasers stimulate collagen production, reduce discoloration, tighten skin and encourage healthy skin growth in areas plagued by stretch marks, according to MayoClinic.com. Talk to your dermatologist to determine which type of treatment will work best for your skin type.
Tips and Warnings
- Try sunless tanning sprays, recommends KidsHealth, because they're effective at hiding stretch marks.
- Avoid creams and lotions that claim to remove stretch marks, recommends MayoClinic.com, because they're not likely to reduce them.
