Just as how much you want to show your weight loss journey, one thing your body would never want you to have is stretch marks. Most women face this skin condition. For almost every woman, stretch marks appear either during puberty or pregnancy, as these are the times when girls and mature women gain weight visibly. As for the question of do stretch marks go away when you lose weight or not, you can read on to find your answer.
What Causes Stretch Marks To Appear?
The only cause of stretch marks other than genetic reasons is the stretching of the skin. It is a kind of scar left behind after skin either stretches or shrinks rapidly—the collagen and elastin in your skin rupture. After healing, it leaves red, blue, purple, or bright and indented streaks on the skin.
People who are at risk for developing stretch marks include:
- Young women who are pregnant
- Rapid growth in adolescence
- People gaining and losing weight rapidly
- People with a family history of stretch marks
- Those who have Cushing’s disease or Marfan syndrome
Do Stretch Marks Go Away When You Lose Weight?
While most people are thrilled to reach their final weight goal, some are bothered by the marks that remain on their belly or thigh. Most women and some men face this crisis, and they are left wondering do stretch marks go away when you lose weight and when. A few stretch marks disappear on their own after weight loss. Even if they don’t disappear, they become faded or less noticeable over time. If you have a few stretch marks on your body, don’t get insecure about them. They will soon disappear. But if they don’t, you can always use some remedies to make them less noticeable.
How Can I Prevent Stretch Marks? 7 Tips To Prevent Them
As one knows, prevention is better than cure. You don’t have to seek professional help and treatments when you can prevent stretch marks while losing weight or during pregnancy. You can avoid getting stretch marks by using these tips.
1. Maintain Your Weight
The first and most sincere tip is to maintain a healthy weight. While some weight gains are inevitable and that is why women get most stretch marks during a healthy pregnancy. Stretch marks appear when your skin stretches out of its elastic limit. Keep reminding yourself that the struggle you have to go through to keep a healthy weight is better than getting rid of stretch marks.
Also Read: Maintaining a healthy weight of your ideal body isn’t that hard. Yoga for weight loss is the best exercise to do every single day.
2. Keep Your Body Hydrated
Always keep your body sufficiently hydrated, whether you gain a few pounds or shed a few. A hydrated body keeps the skin soft, which tends to get fewer stretch marks than the dry one. Regular water intake should be around 13 cups for men and 9 cups for women. Balance your intake of coffee with sufficient water or tea intake. The caffeinated beverages may increase your chances of getting more stretch marks.
3. Make Sure Your Diet Is Nutrient-Rich
As for the question, do stretch marks go away when you lose weight or not? A simple answer is ‘maybe’. But briefly explaining the query, we can say it depends on your skin condition. Skin that lacks nutrients is more prone to getting stretch marks. Make sure you eat a diet that fulfils your body’s needs of vitamins and minerals for a healthier body. query, we can say that it depends on your skin condition. Skin that lacks nutrients is always more prone to getting stretch marks. Make sure you eat a diet that fulfills your body’s needs of vitamins and minerals for a healthier body.
4. Include Some Vitamin C In Your Daily
Collagen is an essential component to keep your skin firm and elastic. This component prevents stretch marks and reduces the wrinkles that come early on. That is why it should be a part of your skincare regime in your 40s. Vitamin C is essential for producing collagen in our bodies; you can get essential Vitamin C from citrus fruits like oranges and lemons; they are a great source of Vitamin C.
5. Sun Bath To Get Vitamin D
Getting some Vitamin D from natural sources benefits your skin’s health. Soak up a lot of Vitamin D by basking in the sun every few days. If you can’t get enough sunlight, you can opt for foods rich in Vitamin D to compensate for its deficiency. You can get this Vitamin D through foods like bread, cereal, and other dairy products like milk, yogurt, etc.
6. Use Treatments When Stretch Marks Appear
If you are concerned about do stretch marks go away when you lose weight, you should know when to treat them. Treat the stretch marks when they first appear. This way, you will get less of them, and the rest may disappear or fade over time. If you worked consistently to prevent stretch marks but still got some, you can treat them. Either use aloe vera as a natural remedy or retinoid creams to repair your skin’s collagen and elastin fibers.
7. Use Centella Herb To Prevent Stretch Marks
The topical treatments of some creams containing Centella Asiatica, collagen-elastin components, and Vitamin E help get rid of stretch marks. They might not get rid of the old ones but can prevent the appearance of new ones. So, if you treat your skin early on, you might not get stretch marks. But do consult your dermatologist before using any product.
Why Do I Get More Stretch Marks After Losing Weight?
Stretch marks appear due to one of the two main reasons.
- Stretching of the skin or,
- Increase cortisone hormone in your system.
Most of the time, women experience stretch marks when they are pregnant. Women can get rid of some belly stretch marks after weight loss. Mostly they only fade and do not disappear. Some people get more stretch marks after weight loss. It is mainly when you first put weight on that the stretch marks develop due to the production of more cortisone. This causes the skin to lose elasticity. Corticosteroid creams can help a lot in getting rid of stretch marks.
How Should I Treat Stretch Marks?
You already achieved your goal of shedding some extra pounds. But the remaining stretch marks make you feel insecure and conscious about your body. You already achieved so much by losing weight, you can tackle this situation as well.
There are many creams in the market but only a few very effective options. Try going for collagen stimulating products such as hyaluronic acid and hydrolyzed collagen supplements to reduce stretch marks after weight loss. Regularly massage your skin to improve circulation for plump skin. If any of this doesn’t work, seek professional help from a dermatologist. And with their help, go for micro-needling, laser, or ultrasound therapy.
Stretch marks fade to become less noticeable over time, but do stretch marks disappear when you lose weight? You can use some natural remedies to prevent the cause of stretch marks. But there is no scientifically proven way to work 100% every time. If your stretch marks still appear or not going away, you should call your dermatologist for better treatment options.
Also Read: In today’s fast-paced world, working women opt for fast foods as a quick meal which adds trans-fat in their diet leading to obesity and stretch marks.
