It’s about time to admit it: I have stretch marks on my legs, and they suck big time! I wasn’t bothered by them until high school, when most girls start to become self-conscious and seek approval from everyone else, especially boys. What’s worse was that while other women with stretch marks still went out in public in short shorts and sexy skirts, I couldn’t.
I’ve had my stretch marks since puberty. While science says they were caused by the tearing of the dermis, I used to believe my grandma’s idea that they happen when a female steps on a thread during her first menstruation. Ridiculous, I know. What’s true, however, is that I used to do a lot of stretching when I was a teen. So if I believe in science, my marks could be the result of the severe pulling force on my skin way beyond its elasticity.
During summer outings, I secretly become anxious at the thought of wearing swimsuits. My friends would console me by saying it doesn’t really matter. Of course it doesn’t matter – for them – because they’re my friends. But in my mind, it mattered very much – to other people. It was during those times that I’d try to think ways to remove my stretch marks so I could finally stop being so self-conscious.
My first plan was to have tattoos on my legs, right at the back of my knees where the ugly stretch marks are lurking. I could put some tattooed roses in there with the word “rebel fleur”, ala Rihanna. Or I could ask the artist to just trace the stretch marks in black ink. Maybe it’ll be cool and original, especially when I’m bikini-clad on the beach, but my fear of needles hindered me from pursuing this “ingenious” plan.
I’ve scoured the world, via the Internet, looking for creams to cure my “embarrassing stretch marks”. Sadly, none of them have actually removed them. Minimizers? I don’t know if some of the creams have really minimized the stretch marks or I just imagined them fading away because I’m so desperately hopeful of a positive result. All I know is that they’re not gone and are still coarsely visible.
Then I discovered that laser treatments can help treat stretch marks. Fractional laser therapy is quite an expensive procedure but is said to produce good results for white stretch marks like mine. Laser therapy will create a number of vertical injuries to the patient’s skin (the diameter of a hair shaft) with non-treated, uninjured skin in between the treated areas to help heal the wound and replace the area with new skin.
Shall I undergo laser treatment for my stretch marks? I may or may not consider it someday. But right now, I’ll just keep my options open. Yes, they bother me, but I don’t see them as a life-or-death situation. Besides, I’m certainly not a beauty queen or a model, so I don’t need flawless legs. I’m just a normal woman with stretch marks on my knees that the media deems “shameful” to have. And as long as commercial advertising says it’s “shameful” to have stretch marks, many women like myself will be too self-conscious to show them.
The good news is that many celebrities have now stepped forward and talked about their cellulite and stretch marks, among other body image issues. One day, I might be influenced by their resilience and will finally come to accept my flaws as part of simply being human.
As long as you’re not breast feeding, I think the best way to help your skin heal with new stretch marks is to drink a collagen supplement.
Stretch marks won’t kill you. My boyfriend always tells me that he doesn’t really mind them. I know maybe because he loves me a lot so he tells me that it’s fine, but I don’t really see him being affected because of it either. I think men aren’t always that judgmental. Even men can get stretch marks in their arms or if they lost a lot of weight or gained weight. It’s pretty normal, people. Let’s stop seeing it as a flaw that causes feelings of insecurity. Normalize it so people don’t have to be ashamed of it.
I’ve used tons of lotions for pregnant women in order to lessen the visibility of my stretch marks but nothing worked. It just hydrated my skin and did nothing.
Even if I had enough money to go for laser treatment, I want to spend it elsewhere. I’m sure that my future husband won’t even mind if I had stretch marks. I’m sure that the person I would love in the future won’t make this a big deal.
Media needs to stop making everyone feel insecure about everything. First, they make people feel fat even if they aren’t, they also make people feel too skinny even though they’re not, it’s such a messed up thing to do.
I think, no need for laser treatments.
Thumbs up for this one! It’s the most inexpensive thing to do.
The horrible thing about laser therapies is that they take a lot of sessions for your stretch marks to really be gone or to at least fade. If you’re an average employee that’s earning a regular paycheck, you can’t exactly pay for all those sessions just for vanity reasons. Personally, I would rather spend my money elsewhere or just save/invest it. I learned that loving my skin and my body is worth more than any laser treatment out there. Learning to accept myself will help me accept all my flaws.
If you feel really bad about your stretch marks, maybe you can just try tinted body makeup instead of expensive laser treatments. But… It would be better if you just accept the fact that getting stretch marks is normal.?
Hydrating your skin or making sure that you put lotion that has vitamin E can help prevent stretch marks. However, there are people that have it in their genes to get stretch marks compared to others.
I heard others do surgery and not just laser treatments. They tuck the skin or something.