“If these are pregnancy-related stretch marks, view them proudly as a badge of honor for motherhood,” she says. In some instances, Massick suggests it may be helpful to reframe the way you think about your stretch marks. For example, try wearing a sun shirt or light sun pants at the beach or pool. If your stretch marks make you uncomfortable, especially early on when they are red, she recommends covering them up with clothing. “They will get less noticeable over time,” Kassouf says.
Other than medical procedures, which Kassouf emphasizes will not always yield perfect results, there may be little you can do to minimize their appearance.įortunately, stretch marks tend to fade with time and turn white or closer to the color of your skin tone.
Sometimes, stretch marks are impossible to prevent or get rid of. If we think of the stretch marks as wounds to the skin, then potentially the emollients can help at least some of the healing mechanisms to keep up.” “We often use emollients to help with wound healing, allowing better movement of epidermal cells over the wound base.
“Technically, striae are atrophic scars due to disruption and damage to the connective tissue in the skin,” Kassouf says. But there’s reason to believe it may provide some benefit. Kassouf notes that in many cases, particularly when skin stretches rapidly, moisturizing will likely not prevent stretch marks.
But when it’s dried out, it’s not as flexible and begins to crack. “When it’s new and it’s hydrated, it’s more pliable and easy to stretch. Still, Kassouf recommends hydrating your skin with moisturizer every day - especially during pregnancy - to help make the skin more flexible to stretch. In a similar way, there is not much that can be done to prevent stretch marks, and there’s no substantial evidence that any remedies actually work.