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Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin

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The Queen of No
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I got them as a teenager on my stomach :(

They're all faded now but ugh, no matter how thin or "ripped" I get, my stomach will always look unattractive to me. No two-pieces for me. Sigh.
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thesciencegirl wields the truth like a mighty axe.
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I hate getting new stretch marks when I LOSE weight. Doesn't seem fair somehow...
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ZoharG
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
one year in summer camp me and my best friend were in a bunk full of girls who were no larger then a size 4. this became painfully obvious when one of them, in a sad attempt to be nice, pointed to my friend's stomach and said "oh my god what happened? are you okay?"

to which she replied "they're stretch marks. they happen when you don't puke after every meal"
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littlebunnyfoofoo
04/10/09

@ZoharG: I had this happen when I changed clothes in front of a former friend. She stared at me, mouth agape, and blurted out, "Oh my God! I am NEVER having children!"

It didn't make me cry but you can bet I'll never forget how bad it made me feel about myself. And of course later she told all of our male friends how bad I look naked. Lovely girl.

Wish I'd been as sharp witted as your friend!
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littlebunnyfoofoo
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I remember seeing a movie with a very young Reese Witherspoon and a very old Paul Newman (What was the title?) and she had visible stretch marks on the tops of her breasts. Years later, I see pics of her in a bikini two kids later and no stretch marks.

What on earth did she do and when can I make an appointment???

Dodai-

This is one of the reasons what you do at your job is so important and beneficial to all these internet strangers. Thanks for an awesome thread. I, for one, feel a lot less alone and ashamed.
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LoSpaz
04/10/09

@littlebunnyfoofoo: I think that laser treatments can help reduce the appearance of stretch marks. It's also possible that Reese's faded over time - mine were more prominent when they first appeared than they are now, 20 years later.
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littlebunnyfoofoo
04/10/09

@LoSpaz: I'm just wondering if she got more when she had children and if she then did something to make them disappear.

I am way over thinking this.
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victoriasauce
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I NEED TO TELL YOU ALL SOMETHING.

I heart you guys. Everyone who admitted to having stretch marks, especially those who hate them like me(!), make me feel so normal. Sometimes I feel like the majority of women are flawless. It's nice to know my mind is just being ridiculous. I REALLY appreciate this open and honest discussion today. Truly. From the bottom of my heart..:)
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HereComesMyBaby
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I did not even know cocoa butter was a treatment! I have stretchmarks even though I am 100 pounds. WTF?
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angelita
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
So I had a short stint with fitness modeling and when you first start they do a very extensive critique of your body. I have little white stretch marks on my hips and was told that just spending a few minutes rubbing them several times a day will make 'em go away and to also break open vitamin E tablets and rub the goo on them too. Tanning also helps.
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superconnected (is it time to leave?)
04/10/09

@angelita:

Thanks for the tip.
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brendastarlet is on it
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I cannot tell you how verklempt it makes me to read everyone's stretch mark confessions. When I got mine at 13, I thought they made me a freak. I can't wear low-cut outfits because of them, and I've kept it a secret my whole life. But now it sounds like -- I'm just normal!
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superconnected (is it time to leave?)
04/10/09

@brendastarlet is on it:

Jezebel has that effect. :)

I still feel like a freak for having stretchmarks on A cup breasts though.
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littlebunnyfoofoo
04/10/09

@brendastarlet is on it: Isn't it nice to know you're in good company?

I've spent years dealing with other moms who swear they didn't get stretch marks and I'm like, how am I the only woman in Texas with stretch marks???!!

Maybe they were all just fuckin' liars.
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superconnected (is it time to leave?)
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
Is there a way to make them go away? I've done up and down weight gain a lot (and I'm only 18.) Hoping to lose it again this summer and I"m pretty sure they'll start bothering once I'm ready for sexytime. What's worse is I've got hardcore stretchmarks on my breasts... and I have A cup... or below A cup... how is that possible/fair?
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Robo
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I've got stretch marks all over my body, mostly from gaining weight and puberty between the ages of 9 and 12. Boobs exploded, hips expanded, etc. A couple of years ago, I gained 20 pounds in a very short amount of time due to stress and eating crap with the ex, so I had a few angry red ones. One time a guy, as I lay in bed with him, was like "*GASP* What happened??" And I didn't realise he meant my stretch marks.

Anyway, yeah mine have all pretty much faded to a wee bit lighter than my skin colour. They're not too noticeable unless I'm looking at them (because I know where they are) or you look really hard.

Whatever, I don't stress about them. We have to realise that all the models we see in magazines really are genetic freaks, so they're in their own little pool. No need to want to be like a freak eh? :)
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superconnected (is it time to leave?)
04/10/09

@Robo:

I got the whole "What happened?!" thing too from a friend who saw the ones on my hips/lower back. "Did your cat scratch you?" Uhm, no.
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Yes_Tim_Gunn
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
Wow, I was about to start tying a description of my stretch marks and then started crying instead. They seem to be alarmingly powerful emotionally, no?

I"m trying to lose 50lbs that I put on with 10 years of intermittently severe depression and nonstop academic work. I'm in a positive place right now, and I'm 10% the way to my goal. The thought that my thighs will still have scarring the size of my hands that looks permanently bruised, or maybe even worse, after the weight is gone, is making me lose my shit.
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Cerridwen
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I got bad stretch marks all over my breasts when I was about 17, when I first went on the pill and my boobs got even huger than before. I was absolutely mortified of them. It was right around the time when I was traveling in Europe and the beaches in Southern France were not kind to my self-esteem. All I could see were miles and miles of breasts that did not look like mine.

Since then, they have faded and are not very noticeable, unless you really look. I've grown to not even think about it, although they used to make me feel awful.
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SnideySense
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I'm pregnant with twins right now and have the most awful stretchmarks -- they started appearing around week 25 and just won't stop. It's to the point where my skin is actually bleeding, it's stretching so fast -- and it's incredibly painful. Ladies, never get pregnant with twins -- if I wear a white shirt, you can see the stretchmarks through the fabric, they're that bad right now.

I asked my doctor about what to do about preventing stretchmarks and she said there is nothing at all to be done -- it's determined by genetics, speed of growth and whether your skin can keep up, etc. Short of cutting the skin off your body, there is also no way to get rid of them once you have them. Ads about skin creams and laser treatments are a hoax -- the best that you can hope for is that the creams will soothe the irritation caused by the stretching, but they won't make the marks go away. She suggested Aquaphor since it is a great emollient. For whatever it's worth.
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Cafezinha
04/10/09

@SnideySense: As another mother of twins, I salute you and feel your pain deeply. Mine never bled but they got really close, and the stretch marks below my belly remain quite intense.
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bowleserised
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
At Notting Hill carnival one year I saw a stunning girl with the deepest, most generous, most brazen cleavage, all of it tiger striped.

I think she was a rold model.
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bowleserised
04/10/09

@bowleserised: role model

sheesh
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bowleserised
04/10/09

@bowleserised: Better than the specialist I saw for a connective tissue problem who commented, in front of several visiting doctors as I sat there in my underwear, "It looks like you've been lashed with a whip".
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PreposterousHypothesis
04/10/09

In reply to Things You Can't Undo: Stretching Yourself Thin
I've got them all around my hips and butt. It looks somewhat like a huge spider planted itself on my butt while nude sunbathing. I've never felt too self conscious about them though...my brother has ones all along the bottom of his back from his growth spurt; my fiance has his around his hips and lower back too.
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