Unfortunately, with weight gain often comes stretch marks. Anybody have any suggestions for fading stretch marks? I've been using the Palmer's cocoa butter lotion for a few months now but see no difference.

Meg put together a GREAT post on loose skin and stretch marks at http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36040

Stretch marks may fade with time, though they won't go away. Laser surgery is an option now, so if your stretch marks are bad, you might ask your doctor about it.

I got horrible stretch marks when I was pregnant with my son and they pucker and look awful now... I put cocoa butter on them the entire pregnancy, too, to no avail. My stretch marks are on the SEVERE side... I had to be hospitalized once for them alone. That's a long story, anyway... My doctor said that lazer surgery was certainly an option but there's no cream out there, unfortunately, that will do much for them. Talk to your doctor and see what he has to say!

It doesn't sound good does it? My stretch marks are really just cosmetic, but some new ones on my chest are bothering me.

By the way, I saw a product at my local Target called Striadril. The product was originally marketed to help with wrinkles but is now being marketed for stretch marks.

Is that the same as Strivectin? I have a friend that uses that on her face and it REALLY worked for the wrinkles on her forehead, but she said she tried it on her stretchmarks and it didn't do a thing .

Yeah, same company but this version is much cheaper. I think it was about $30.

Thanks for all your advice. I greatly appreciate it.

A friend who recently had a baby told me cocoa butter did help a lot on her stretch marks. I just bought some and I don't know whether it will help my marks and saggy skin BUT it does feel wonderful when I smear it on and certainly soothes the skin.

I tried it all -- the special cream from Mother Time, cocoa butter, vitamin E gel -- nope I have them all over my stomach & my thighs. I hate it. I don't see me doing surgery to remove them either so I guess I deal with it. My dh said they are just proof of love from carrying children (yea ok, I don't see it that way but he was trying to make me feel better). The more I loose, I swear the more noticeable they are.

I have asked my Dr and creams do not work, save your money. You will either get them or you won't. He said go find a model on a beach, she has stretch marks - they just air brush her to make her perfect. That didn't help my feelings either but just sharing my info is all. The dermatologist said laser surgery might help but yikes.

I'm not surprised they don't work on the marks. But the cocoa butter cream IS making my skin FEEL so nice and soothed that I smeared it all over me last night after having been in the chlorine pool.

Stretch marks can fade over time on their own. I know that when I was a little girl, my mother had bad stretch marks, but as she got older and did more exercise on her stomach, they faded quite a bit.

I know you are young but I do want to caution you... you are soooooo right that this is not good for your skin. It can cause skin cancer. I know you probably don't want to hear advice from an "old lady chick" but please use caution.

Try using a sunless tanner to cover your stretch marks - sunburning & tanning is just awful for your skin

I second the sunless tanners, they work wonders for stretch marks!

30 minutes of sun a day could be skin cancer down the road. I'd go with the sunless tanner.