Some of you lucky ones may not have this problem. However, my weight has been up and down my entire life...and right after entering my adolescence, the unthinkable happened...stretch marks.
This is embarrasing, but I hope that I can get some feedback on this. As I grew, so did my stretch marks. I never got really obese, but I got big enough to permanently scar my arms, stomach, thighs, etc. I mean, I have a lot of them!! And they are everywhere!
I have no doubt that one day, I will reach my goal weight. But no matter how good my body looks, or what size I wear, I will always be self-conscious about myself due to this. I haven't worn a sleeveless shirt/tank top since I was like 15, because they are all over my upper arms. I hate wearing shorts, not because my legs are fat, but because of the scars. They are truly very bad.
Does anyone know if losing weight lessens the appearance of the marks? Has anybody had that experience? If I had the money, I would honestly get some sort of plastic surgery to remove them. Unfortunately that's not an option as long as I'm still a student. I have 3 years left of school, and I don't want to wait that long to feel good about my appearance.
I hope nobody sees me as being vain because of this. I'm just tired of being made fun of, or of people asking me what happened to my skin. Help please...

It's not vain. Honestly, I know how you feel, since on the up and downside of the scale, there they are...(and after two kids, even MORE)

They diminish with time, and they have some promising treatments in the works that, by the time I reach my goal weight might even become more afordable, I hope.

Strange thing is, they've quit bothering me like they used to. I've just tried to tune in to other things. (And when I had someone RUDE enough to comment on them..I pointed at her face and asked where HER ugly scar came from....<heh heh heh>)

Self-tanner is a Godsend...it really helps to camoflage them a bit.

Now, if I can get over the fear of showing my "Batflaps"... you know the flabby old-lady wing of flesh where triceps outta be?

Hullo!
I have no answer for you (although I seem to remember having read somewhere that stretch marks actually gets less and less noticable during weight loss), but a tip! There is an excellent search engine on this board. I typed in "stretch marks" and came up with plenty of threads:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/search.php?searchid=84327

Best of luck to you!

EDIT: Oh! Potatofree gave you a fine answer. Anyway, I love the search engine. Haven't missed one topic I've wondered about so far. This board is marvellously jam-packed with info from good people. Gotta love it.

LOL Potatofree...if only I were brave enough to stand up to someone like that...my reaction when my bf pointed at my legs and said "What happened to your legs!?" was more eyes-welling-up-with-tears...

I'm familiar with the "Batflaps" too... another reason why sleeveless tops are off-limits for me...I'm optimistic that they'll go away eventually though!

Thanks for the support. Haven't been on the site long and didn't know searches like that were available...that link really helps.

GO VOLS!

I have had stretch marks since highschool. I got my first ones from powerlifting and I got them on my arms and chest. Then I got fat and my chest and torso are covered with them. I have had people ask me if I was in a war. But you know what. Who cares.....
I am loosing the wieght to be healthy and to maybee live to see my children grow up. I also still go shirtless, I still wear shorts and go swimming with my kids at the ymca 2 to 4 times a week. I here comments and yes sometimes they hurt very bad. But I am not going to loose out of the fun of being and playing with my children.
I can say that I do hope they diminish in time and not look so red and nasty but if not at least I will be alive.
I tan very easy and when I tan they show more!!! I will have to try the self tanner potatofree and see if it helps any.

Ian
You are an awesome dad! Don't kids change everything in life?

I don't know if this would work or if it was mentioned somewhere else, but there is a cream for scars ( I think brand name scarzone or mederma, maybe?) that might work on a particularly bad stretch mark. I believe that it is essentially high dose hydrocortisone cream and it can "thin" skin or scars. Again, I have no knowledge that this would work or is healthy to use.

Missy

Hang in there! All I can say is that I relate!! You will look fabulous in clothes and the stretch marks will fade perhaps a little, but they will fade in your mind. There are some days when mine make me want to go into bed and cry, but MOST days I feel confident about myself as a person, my abilities, and my new sense of control while eating...it makes them seem less important. Remember how great a person you are and that you are not a sum of your stretchmarks.

Take care,
Elle

if you look online on google, you'll find a number of products. most seem to be vitamin E based oils. never tried it.

since losing 61 pounds my strechmarks are still there but much thinner finer and more silver color not the bright red clawed by a bear look. But I am very pale and maybe thats why mine are silverish color. Hey they still bug me some but not that bad I feel so great since losing weight that I wear anything I want if I can squeeze in it and I feel great about it

Missyk
Thank you!!!!

I have stretch marks, I hate them so much, is there really a treatment to get rid of them?

I've had two kids, and stretch marks a plenty. I never even knew they were on my arms until I started losing weight. I've been tanning so it helps them not to stand out as much and it makes me not so self conscious. Unfortunetly because of them you'll never catch this body in a pair of low riders. lol I've tried differen't vitamin e products online, more or less a waste of money. I always try to hide them when I'm in front of my husband, but he tells me to knock it off, he doesn't even really care, he just see's me a me and not a person with stretch marks. Its just a part of me now, my own tattoes lol. At least we can wear smaller clothes to cover them up!

livingintn

Oh I can relate

I have heard that tanning does help camoflauge stretchmarks. Try what potatofree suggested with the self tanners, there are some good ones out there now. Stretchmarks do tend to naturally fade overtime. I have also heard that vitamin E helps with stretchmarks, and cocobutter.

Tanning, they helped mine!Also as I lost weight they were not as bad...Why dont you try it? I wish you the very best.
Cheers,
Judi

I already go to the tanning salons, you can tell by my orange skin in my picture :P Yes tanning really does help, at least Im not the only person with this problem! How do all of these famous people have babies and never get stretch mark? There must be some sort of cosmetic surgery!