Pregnant women are not the only ones prone to having stretch marks. Stretch marks, or commonly known as striae in the medical world, is a foremost problem for people who are making stern improvement with developing the shape of body such as weight lifting or body building. This is quite an unlucky side effect as you have to battle with these unpleasant looking marks when you are making positive progress toward improving your body shape and bulk. However, the good news is that the cosmetics industry has been making breakthroughs to counter this problem and you can have over the over the counter creams available that you can apply on your stretched skin. The even better news is that most of these treatments will also work on eliminating your own stretch marks scarring.
Stretch marks are caused by the glucocorticoid hormones in our body, which affects our epidermis or skin layer. They prevent the fibroblasts from forming the substances, collagen and elastin fibers. Both of these things are required to maintain a taut and elastic skin during rapid growth. This is the far stretch of striae in medical terms.
When these two materials are not present then it causes a lack of supportive material. So when the skin stretches due to rapid growth it causes the dermal and epidermal layer to tear without the elasticity property. When this happens, stretch marks appear and in almost all cases are not removed by even laser therapy.
If you notice some pink or purple lines on your skin, then that is actually the first indication of the appearance of stretch marks. These are the outcome of injured capillaries. For some period of time this lines will eventually become white. Stretch marks are the marks of the worn out inner layer of skin. They are most commonly found on thighs, abdomen, hips, breasts and upper arms. Once stretch marks are there on your skin then you will find them very difficult to get rid of.
Millions people from all over the world are having this problem and have been in pursuit of the perfect solution to finally getting rid of stretch marks.
Getting rid of stretch marks is not impossible. The perfect solution is to make use of vitamin rich cream a couple of times everyday to the area where stretch marks can be found. This can improve the flexibility of the epidermis and will reduce existing scars and hinder new marks from forming. To avoid having stretch marks on the other hand, it is suggested currently for pregnant women to put on the remedy in the second trimester and maintain application until after delivery. If this treatment is applied consistently over a period of time then you will probably see the scarring to fade out in just a few weeks and some scars will hardly be visible in two months of proper treatment.
Shea butter is a comparative new player in the arena of stretch mark home remedy. Natural shea butter is an excellent source of Vitamins A and E which are vital for keeping good skin health. Massaging shea butter on your stretch marks two or three times a day will be able to help to healing those marks.
Microdermabrasion is a cosmetic procedure that scrapes the top surface of the skin, removing it completely along with the stretch marks. This procedure only takes a short time and removes the ugly marks by slowly eliminating the skin that contains the stretch marks. This process can be expensive so that budget must be considered.
Another very successful way of hiding stretch marks is utilizing non-sun tanning strategies. You should know that stretch marks themselves do not tan well, and so spending a lot of time in the sun the result is likely to make your stretch marks more rather than less. Fake tanning products which color the skin often work very well and do some sort of magic to your marks. You usually need to do single application for this product and your skin becomes a slightly darker in shade. Moderate to frequent applications will darken your skin more causing uneven skin tone. However, when you do purchase fake tan products it s best to have a small chat with the pharmacist selling it or refer to the web because some creams and lotions are more effective in hiding stretch marks than others.
Keep in mind that the product you choose to use for your weight lifting stretch marks is applied regularly twice a day, and maintain application for as long as it takes to affect the scarring of which the period might take about a month. Regular application must be ensured to prevent the skin from reverting back. On this case you might find yourself back almost to square one. The other usual rules such as keeping your vitamins up, especially the ones stated above and keeping yourself hydrated still apply. If you are using caffeine during training and stretch marks treatment then it is high time to skip drinking coffee for the duration of the treatment because this can unfavorably affect the process of eliminating the ugly marks.
Also make sure to be at a slow and easy pace while you are bodybuilding and allow your skin to stretch at a pace it can handle. Gaining too much muscle too fast will likely result to having stretch marks. A steady muscle gain gives your skin time to become accustomed to the stretching and lessens the chances of getting those pesky stretch marks.
