Body acne help?

how on earth are you supposed to know how old Brandon Barnes is?

around here, we just call this treatment—laser goat resurfacing.

violent_femmes9 said:[

I've spotted some younger girls with stretch marks, but it was mostly people who had experienced sudden, massive weight loss. [/B]

Personally, I’d bet stretch marks show up way faster when someone puts on weight quickly rather than losing it.

Besides, how old do you actually have to be to get them? They mostly pop up during puberty or pregnancy, don't they?

Yeah, pretty much—stretch marks happen when the skin gets pulled too fast—think sudden weight gain or pregnancy—so they're basically just cracks in the skin.

And I haven't heard of anyone getting them from losing weight. You get sagging skin from gaining weight (unless you're hitting the gym consistently), not the other way around.

Stretch marks usually pop up right along with those hormonal shifts

and they definitely aren't just some "skin cracks" or whatever you'd call them

at least, that's how the doctors explain it...

I actually earned my stretch marks back when I was eighteen. It happened after I packed on 15 pounds in just ten months, then spent the entire following year sweating those same 15 pounds off. One day, I just happened to catch a glimpse of my thighs and hips in the mirror... 😲 I hadn't even given it a second thought, but the moment I saw them, I started trying to connect the dots. 😁 That’s why placidjackal97's theory feels much more plausible to me. Though, I suppose there's also the possibility I was dealing with some kind of hormonal imbalance at the time—I mean, when you fluctuate by 15 pounds that quickly, your body chemistry is bound to get a little thrown off balance, right? 🙂

I haven't had any luck getting rid of them so far. Every time I ask someone for advice, they just tell me they aren't going anywhere and that I should just learn to live with them, end of story. 🙂 Maybe they've become less noticeable as the years have passed—or perhaps I've just grown accustomed to seeing them there? 😁 Regardless, I've completely given up hope that they'll ever truly vanish. Whether laser treatments actually work or not, I honestly have no clue. I can't even begin to wrap my head around how a laser could possibly target and erase a stretch mark... but hey, I'm hardly an expert, so I won't pretend to know what I'm talking about. 🙂

Yeah, when they’re fresh, they have this purplish tint that really catches the eye—but after a while, they turn silvery and you can only spot them if the light hits just right.

I’ve actually run my finger over a stretch mark before—there’s this tiny little indentation in the skin, almost like a fissure. It’s basically where the laser just buffs away the top layer of the dermis.

It’s funny how inconsistent it is; I know people who deal with them by age 15, then there are others who go through two pregnancies and don't end up with any at all.

So, I did a little digging to educate myself on the matter (Google rules, 😁) and it turns out I’m actually a terrible candidate for laser lightening—not even removal, just lightening—of stretch marks. Apparently, since mine have been around for about a decade, the laser won't do much. It really only works during those early stages when they're still quite dark. Mine? They turned "silvery" ages ago.

And yes, they are definitely indentations in the skin... sort of like little channels.

From what I gather, they happen because certain fibers in the middle layer of the skin snap due to constant stretching: "When the dermis is constantly stretched over time, the skin becomes less elastic and the connective fibers break. The result is the markings we know as stretch marks. ... Stretch marks can appear anywhere on the body where the skin has been stretched (often as a result of weight gain)."

I don't want to just copy-paste everything here, but I think it’s explained pretty clearly enough for a layperson at:
http://www.substance.com/body/basics/smarks/

nimbleskipper17 said:I really earned my curves back when I was eighteen, after I put on about thirty pounds in just ten months and then spent the entire next year working it all off, and then one day I just happened to catch a glimpse of my legs and my backside in the mirror... 😲 I hadn't really given it much thought before, but the moment I laid eyes on them, I just had a feeling I knew exactly what they were made of... 😁 I have to say, placidjackal97’s theory is starting to sound more plausible to me... though I can't rule out that my hormones were just completely out of whack at the time, especially since gaining fifteen pounds like that usually throws everything in your body totally out of balance... 🙂)

I haven't been able to get them off yet, and honestly, whenever I ask around, everyone just tells me to let it go and move on... 🙂 I wonder if they just become less noticeable as the years go by, or maybe I've just finally gotten used to seeing them...😁I don't even really expect them to disappear one day, though I wonder if laser treatments actually work at all... I honestly can't wrap my head around how a laser could possibly get rid of a stretch mark, but hey, I'm no expert so I won't pretend to know... 🙂

It’s really not about whether the theory holds water or what the odds are...

My sister stayed at the exact same weight for five years straight, right up until those stretch marks started showing up and she finally decided to head to her doctor to see what could be done about them...

She had her blood work done because she thinks those stretch marks might be tied to some kind of hormonal imbalance or just things being out of whack in her system...

I guess sudden weight gain can trigger those kinds of shifts too...

It appears the stripes simply refuse to budge.
Laser treatment doesn't seem to be erasing them entirely, and even if it were just providing partial clearance, there should at least be some redness—yet mine have turned white ages ago.
I suppose I’m just a lost cause! 😢

Has anyone else dealt with this kind of thing?

Of course you can't just get rid of them... you basically just have to live with it...
The only way is if you've got some extra loose skin—then an aesthetician might be able to trim that away, and maybe take those stretch marks with it.

copperridge912 is right. Deal with it. Go get a tan, use some moisturizer, and you won't be so noticeable.

They aren't really a huge deal, and I think almost everyone deals with them at some point. I'm 20 and I hit the gym pretty regularly, but lately, I've started noticing some stretch marks popping up on my biceps. Now, I'm aware that once they're there, you can't exactly make them disappear, but I was wondering if anyone might know of a specific cream, ointment, or maybe just some kind of treatment to prevent more from showing up in the future? I've heard that they happen because the skin loses its elasticity, or something along those lines, and apparently, that lack of elasticity might be linked to a zinc deficiency. Some people have suggested I just head over to a CVS and pick up some zinc supplements, but I guess I was wondering if anyone knows of any other solutions besides that? I'm just curious and would love to learn about different ways to help keep my skin feeling elastic. Thanks so much!

Ugh, man, tell me about it—I’ve been obsessing over this too. Honestly, by the end of middle school, my skin was basically just... gone? Like, one minute I'm fine, and the next, it feels like my entire face just stretched out into thin air and completely snapped. Just total skin failure. Gross.

Look, let one pregnant woman give you some real talk here, because I’m right in the thick of this battle myself and I think what you're doing is exactly what most of us end up doing anyway. You just have to slather yourself in heavy, greasy lotions—ideally the stuff with almond oil or coconut milk and all that good stuff. Most of us already ended up with stretch marks as we grew, and yeah, I've got them too, but right now my entire mission is just fighting to make sure I don't end up with even more while I'm pregnant. Good luck.

Do you have any recommendations for a good stretch mark cream? I feel like mine might be looking a bit better after two months, but honestly, I can't tell for sure. 😢

So, I stopped by the local health food store earlier today and picked up some zinc supplements. The woman working behind the counter mentioned that taking them might actually help prevent new stretch marks from forming. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if that's actually true...

nimblegull14,

I really don't want to rain on your parade—because, honestly, what works for one person might totally flop for someone else—but just for what it's worth, zinc didn't do a lick of good for me. Personally? I think you're much better off just sticking to some decent moisturizing creams.
I remember back in the day, they used to advertise this specific remedy on Cosmopolitan—you could actually grab it through www.strechmarks.com—but now? Good grief, there are a hundred different "miracle" products out there!
As for me, I'm already prepping myself for that one fine day when I finally head in for some laser treatments to tackle my existing stretch marks.

Look, I’m not really looking to get discouraged here. I’m fully aware that the stretch marks I’ve already got aren't just going to vanish overnight. But I figure there has to be an underlying reason why they started showing up in the first place, and I’d really love to tackle that root cause so I can prevent any more from popping up down the road, you know? 😉 😛 In my case, I think the stretch marks happened because I ramped up my arm workouts way too fast—just went a bit overboard with the intensity. Four months ago, my skin was totally fine, but lately, they've started appearing. It would be such a shame if the only way to deal with this was to stop working out entirely, because honestly, hitting the gym has been huge for my confidence, helping me feel much better in my own skin and keeping me in great shape. Usually, people say stretch marks come from sudden weight gain, but I actually lost about 9 pounds over the last four months, so I'm sitting at 175 pounds now, which feels like the sweet spot for my height and build. I really want to keep training without constantly worrying about new marks forming. Of course, I know taking zinc isn't going to magically erase the ones I have, but maybe it might help prevent new ones from developing (at least, that's what I've heard). I started taking it today and dialed back my workout intensity just a little bit, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things progress. It probably takes a while for zinc to actually build up in your system and start doing its thing, right? 😛

All the best to you, nimblegull14.
Honestly, if you just keep doing exactly what you're doing right now—maintaining this same volume—I really doubt you'll see any new stretch marks popping up, whether you're loading up on zinc or not. I was chatting with a pharmacist the other day, and she mentioned how zinc is great for wound healing, which kind of leaves me wondering... does that actually help prevent new ones from forming, too? Or is it just for existing ones? Who knows!
For me, stretch marks seem to appear out of thin air—literally in the blink of an eye! My skin just lacks all elasticity, and there isn't much anyone can do about that, really.
But hey, if you don't mind, please let me know how things are looking in a few months.

I'll be sure to give you guys an update as soon as I have some actual results to share, I guess.