Stretch marks are caused when skin expands rapidly, such as during pregnancy. The belly and breasts stretch as the uterus and baby grow and milk glands start to produce breast milk. Once the baby is born, you will lose some of the pregnancy weight, but the stretch marks will not go away as easily. You can fade and repair them with a few simple steps, however, and regain your pre-pregnancy look.
Step 1
Apply a moisturizer containing vitamin E and retinol to the affected areas. These ingredients promote the skin's natural healing abilities, eliminating damaged skin tissue and the appearance of stretch marks.
Step 2
Apply cocoa butter to the marks twice daily. Cocoa butter has been shown to significantly reduce the appearance of stretch marks and make heavy marks fade.
Step 3
Exfoliate marks with a gentle exfoliating wash. This will increase circulation and promote skin cell regeneration, while getting rid of the old dead skin cells.
Step 4
Visit your physician or a skin care center for microderm abrasion or a chemical peel. These treatments will destroy the damaged skin, leaving fresh new skin in its place.
Step 5
Drink at least eight glasses of water per day. Keeping your body hydrated will lock moisture into your skin, speeding up the healing process from stretch marks.
Step 6
Avoid rapid weight loss or gain. Eating a balanced diet and losing weight slowly will prevent new stretch marks from forming and help fade existing marks.
