posted February 24, 2013 12:50 AM            

It's not an easy problem, any woman - or man who has body built, dealt with the horrors of an intense growth spurt, or vigorously lifted weights - can tell you. It's difficult to pay over 1,000 dollars for laser treatments on marks that the derm might not even be able to take completely away. Even if they can get your marks from red/purple to a white, you will most likely still have deep, ragged indents in the skin - it won't feel smooth, and the white shine is embarrassing. So what else is there... that's what I was wondering FOREVER.

Thankfully, like a miracle I've noticed after a year of personal therapy a huge improvement in my skin. I wanted to give any of you here with this problem on the health forum hope since I've found an AWESOME way to reduce the appearance of even the older types of stretch marks that are not too noticeable but still bothersome to self-esteem [they look white/shiny].

1. **Needle therapy - a derma roller can come for as cheap as 18 bucks on Amazon and it can be as painful as you want it to be. Meaning, needle therapy is needles, obviously a small needle roller will not be a breeze or fun, but the rollers come as little as 0.5 MM in needle size so you can take it easy as first, or go up to 1.5 MM to get faster results. But basically, as I've seen with myself, these rollers when used with creams will be able to break through the dermis that's ruined from the stretch mark and renew collagen over time with healing. So your skin will appear fresher, and the stretch marks will gradually begin to shrink! Luckily, you don't have to do serious rolling more than 1 time a week if you stick with the regular needle size. This therapy will absolutely save you thousands on what you spend on lasering, even though it's somewhat painful! Surgeons actually do this professionally in offices as I've seen, so it's not a weird or unusual practice.

2. Use hylaruonic acid! It works MIRACLES on stretch marks, especially when COMBINED with the derma roller needle therapy!! It's safe according to the FDA and a loved product by plastic surgeons. It helps exfoliate and renew the skin... it shrank my stretch marks and took away the width and white 'shine' considerably in less than 6 weeks of use with use of only 2-3 times per week on the affected area. No other product I've used has worked as well as this to exfoliate and renew my skin. Even if you don't do needle therapy for personal reasons or for pain issues [since some people are extremely sensitive and that's OK] you should try this anyway. It's available on Amazon.

3. Try other cream regimens after doing needle therapy. Here are other combined products/regimens to use, some solely to keep good moisture in your skin for health:

a. Bioil: alone, this does nothing for my marks, and little with needle therapy, but it is an EXCELLENT soother and moisturizer that I trust.

b. Hexapeptide: another trusted skin cream and exfoliant. Got a free cream sample on Amazon and it seemed to help with needle therapy.

c. Any lotion or product with COLLAGEN in it, little or large. You can even use Jergen's 'Skin Firming' lotion with collagen production. It will likely only help, however, if you break through the old damaged dermis with needles. But using a collagen product is quite important to help speed the needle therapy along.

d. As for a regimen, make sure to apply these creams vigorously when you first do the needle therapy, once in the morning, afternoon and right before bed. The next few days after needle therapy, apply once per day, as for the quantities that you have - it's important to use them but conserve at the same time.

Here are some interesting links:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jun/07/image/la-ig-beauty-20100606 - info on the acid for better skin
http://www.amazon.com/Microneedle-System-Roller-Medical-Stainless/dp/B004ATTGSY - more heavy duty roller that is somewhat more painful than the below one, but 10x more effective and yields quicker results.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00878OELI?psc=1 - less intense roller with free creams. This seller on Amazon is amazing for her free cream selection, I have used it myself and she has other rollers with different creams and needle sizes that work well!

Obviously stretch marks will never 100% disappear, but for those of you who have no answers because lasering is not an option, and feel hopeless, I hope I've helped you a bit.

(I'm also curious, maybe some of you on here have already tried needle therapy - hopefully it has worked for you, and you've gotten your desired results!)

posted February 25, 2013 07:58 AM            

I love your dedication to fixing the problem and I'm happy for you, that it paid off!

I might have stretch marks somewhere, but I have Aries Chiron, weak sense of self, and don't actually pay much attention to how my body looks. I make sure everything is shaved that needs to be, and I watch my weight...but don't follow the full story too carefully.

I was just grateful to not have really obvious marks on my torso after childbirth.

*checking my torso right now*

posted February 25, 2013 03:49 PM            

I've never been pregnant,I weigh 85 lbs,and I have stretch marks.

This is something I'd like to try.But I'm not good with pain.

I normally use a ground coffee and olive oil mix.But it's more for cellulite.It works though.

posted August 31, 2013 06:48 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Gemmy:

I normally use a ground coffee and olive oil mix.But it's more for cellulite.It works though.

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This does work well on cellulite. Between that and squats, I have been more comfy wearing shorts. It's something that I have made and used on and off for a year.

posted August 31, 2013 07:52 PM            

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Passion, Lust, Desire. Check out my journal

posted September 25, 2013 08:48 PM            

Dear OP,

I love you! <3

I wasn't expecting noticeable results so quickly or at all really. Not even a month and it looks like a few of my lighter ones disappeared plus some of the depth of the really deep ones are filling in. I thought I was seeing things. My SO was shocked too. Thank you for your post.

posted September 26, 2013 01:42 AM            

Btw I also ordered Dermaroller, 1.0, I should have ordered 1.5 though Has anyone used more than that? Because I can totally see myself using it. Also how do you guys sanitize it?

And I second Ami's request for natural hair removal