Anyone else have stretch marks?Mine are really really bad, from extreme fast weight gain during my pregnancy with my daughter... they're deep, thick, and just recently started turning from dark purple/red to a pink color... they have smoothed over a bit [they used to be puffy], and have little ridges going through them. I have tons of them, and alot of extra skin, which leaves me this little like ball of fat hanging from my belly which I hate. I'm sorry if this is a descriptive overshare, but I just realy want to know if this "ball of fat" could possibly ever go away, what my stretch marks might end up looking like in the future [it's been 11 mos now since I got them], and if my skin will shrink back at all... I've looked online but find very little info. If anyone else has had similiar stretch marks and lost weight, please let me know how it turned out, because I worry about it every day... I mean, I know they won't go away, but if they faded a bit, and if that fat/skin went away a bit I would be satisfied...
this is way way embarrasing, but this is day one of trying to lose weight, the only pic I have of them...[ p.s. ignore the mess in my room, we aren't totally unpacked yet!!!]

Nothing actually works, in my opinion. We just have to face it, our stretch marks are with us for life! I'd use cocoa butter if anything. The great thing is, men don't really care I used to care a lot more than I do now about mine, not so much anymore. I have them all over my tummy. Mostly white in colour. Oh well.

Mine were worse.
My son stayed tucked under my rib cage for eight months, I was just about done being pregnant when I woke up itching like crazy turned on the light and looked down.

My son is "3 and a half!" now, they are are pale and silvery and cannot be seen from a distance. Texture wise close up there is no denying what they are but I haven't tried anything truly expensive yet.

I'll probably splurge on some laser treatment when I'm done losing weight, a friend on the east coast has done so and said it worked. (I haven't seen her in so long she could be lying)

Don't spend the money on mederma though, read it's label: aloe, onion extract, and fragrance.

I made my own, felt weird didn't really notice anything dramatically quick but- like I said they've faded almost completely now.

Good luck and try not to focus too much on it, I think it really just comes down to time passing.

P.S. As I live in AK, I did joke for sometime that I had been mauled by a bear while camping whenever the opportunity arose. :P

Thanks for sharing your photo! That is pretty much how my tummy looks...plus I got them on my sides, all over my inner thighs, legs, behind knees... All from my first pregnancy and having preclampsia did not help. My older son is 4 now, the stretch marks are faded but they are so deep and my skin is thin on each one. It is really freaky to me. I may be looking into something more drastic when I get down to my goal weight to get rid of them. I know a lot of moms just take them as battle scars, but I've never warmed up to them and I don't think I ever will.

I have seen wayyyyyy worse. Honey, your stretch marks are pretty close in color to your skintone. I would try religiously applying a drug-store cream and cocoa butter and you should be okay. I am a pasty girl, and I can't even tan mine away, sadly. A good fake tan anytime you have to be in a bathing suit or anything will work too.

they arent as bad as you explained honey they will fade in time .Moisturizing will help a lot try the following each one at a time and they will gradually fade
1. wheat germi oil.
2.Collagen containg creams .
3.Vitamin E containing creams.
4.Cocoa butter.
5.Vaseline the stuff not the brands lotions.
6.Vaseline the brand itself lol.
7.olive oil.
8. castor oil.
Give it a year or a bit more and you'll be glad by the results.

In the UK Bio-oil is advertised as an anti-scar and stretchmark product. My mum was told to use it by her surgeon after having blepheroplasty to stop scarring. Look here

trust me they never go away but they do get soo soo much better and hardly noticeable

Right now while they are red you can go to your doctor and get a prescription for Retin-A cream. That helps with the redness of them.

There is a laser called Fraxel that people are using, with limited results.

There is a TCA peel or glycolic acid routine that people use with limited results.

I would say try the Retin-A cream first as they are red. They should definitely fade though, they won't always look like that.

~Choirgirl~

My stomach looks exactly like yours! Except i think I may have MORE hanging skin than you do. I've done research high and low and there really nothing you can do to get rid of them, nor the hanging skin for that matter (except you can have surgery for skin removal) When I had my first son, my mom told me not to worry because the stretch marks will fade, and the skin would snap back .... it didn't! LOL I just remind myself I got 2 beautiful boys outta it

But it STILL sucks though.... LOL

i've never had kids... but i have my fair share of stretch marks. on my hips, thighs, and all over my sad sad breasts. they're all veteran marks, however, so they've faded to pale and silvery. but if i bend at the waist with no bra, my breasts wrinkle in between each mark. it's truly a sight to see, i assure you.

I only got stretch marks from my pregnancy with my daughter- no new ones with my son. My daughter is now 26 months and they are a LOT better. They are barely noticeable. It's more the texture you would notice if anything, they are the same color as my skin.

I did use a product called Mother's Special Blend during my pregnancy with my son. I don't really know if it contributed to not getting stretch marks with him. I think gaining much less weight that time was the real reason. However it is an all natural product and smells great so it couldn't hurt to use it.

As for the "ball of fat" (LOL... I know what you mean... I call it mommy tummy) it will get better over time as you lose more weight. I have 13 pounds till goal and it has gotten a lot better for me. All over weight loss plus targeting your core should help. I have not had a c-section but I've heard from moms who did that they have sort of a "flap" above the scar. Hope this helps!!!

Oh and have you seen the Shape of a Mother website? Google it, very cool!

My stomach looks similar to your photo. Mine started out as a very dark, angry purple color and puffy after fast weight gain, then were less puffy and more pink, now are fading to a more whitish color. I had some on thighs at an earlier time (I mean that they formed earlier than I ever had any on my stomach) and these have faded to a very light color and are absolutely unnoticeable unless you are really looking for them. As for hanging belly fat, I am just hoping it gets a little better with some more weight loss. I compare mine to a slightly deflated balloon; my belly was big and round, now it's sort of deflated and hangy and wrinkly. Argh.

tandi, I have them too--they are worse on one side than the other in my case..I can tell you mine have faded in color and are sort of silvery now...clothes hide them well but alas, a bikini is not in my future..the skin around mine is very thin now..they actually bled after running not long ago..uggh..

I want to do surgery I think for upper thighs and my stomach...but I am waiting for the economy to come back up..can't see spending that much money right now!