Loose/Stretch Mark Skin
 

I've got loose skin now, especially in areas where I've had stretch marks from gaining weight when I was younger.

I have two concerns about it:
1) The skin is loose and icky feeling, not tight and smooth. Not very attractive, not nice to touch.
2) The skin seems to heal extremely slowly from bug bites/pimples and be abnormally prone to razorburn.

Is there any solution to tightening the skin/smoothing it, and to the blemishes?

most people i have heard about had to have it removed surgically, how much loose skin is there? I think you should see a doc or a dietician maybe they could help, Oh and if you find a solution let us know as pimple rash is a problem for me too.

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Are you F/M? What age? As far as I know there isn't anything to make them go away unless you want to have surgery. I've seen the makeover shows where stretchmarks are removed by removing excess skin. As far as making stretchmarks go away. . google it.
If anyone says cocoa butter - that is an old wives tale. I think if there was some miracle cream for removing stretch marks I would be telling you about it. I have a 5 year old!! :lol:
Curious as to what peoples responses will be.

As far as I know, there is nothing to make stretch marks go away. If there was, millions of mothers worldwide would be rejoicing right now and someone would be a billionaire. They get lighter with time, but they are damaged skin...it doesn't repair itself. As far as excess skin...surgery, just like everyone else said.

I so very much hope that someone figures out how to get rid of excess skin without surgery someday. I worked so hard to lose weight and now I have the saggy bags everywhere.

I've noticed that the skin heals slower in the stretched areas, too. I thought it was just me! I use arnica gel and hemp lotion to ease my skin. It gets really dry and itchy in any area where anything rubs. I damaged the heck out of my skin. :(

Male, and not ALOT of loose skin yet, but I have strech marks on my inner thighs, my sides, my biceps... its quite annoying.

I've heard that laser treatments and Mederma have been used with some success to lighten/less the appearance of stretch marks. However, as has been said, the most reliable way to tighten skin is surgery.

Exercise can help to get the body as toned as possible without a scalpel, but usually there's a point at which surgery is the only/best way.

can you get buff to fill those excess skins? if you're a male, I think it would definetly be ok to be buff and bulky. Although I don't have your problem so I don't know, but i know some people turn from being fat to buff, muscular, and they seem fine, no excess skins on their body.

innovis

i did a search on tfp a few weeks ago about stretch mark and found some info..medermis did come up also. do a search and see how you go. i would have done one for you now and given you the threads, but dinner is waiting!

ciao

The problem was that I was already somewhat buff under my fat... which is what caused the stretch marks (getting buff too quickly, from playing football + having a growth spurt)

Excess skin shouldn't be a prob if you frequently do cardio and weight lifting.

It also depends on how fast you dropped the weight. People who get gastric bypass almost always have to have surgery to remove the loose skin because it was so sudden.

If you lost the weight gradually over time, it's a bit odd to have loose skin. A very little amount, yes... but it shouldn't be anything abnormal or anything that won't be back to normal within a few months of continued workouts and LOTS of water. Your skin is elastic!

As for stretch marks.. nothin you can do.

Mederma might not be able to provide that much help if you DO try it, from the site:

"Will MEDERMA® really work on stretch marks?
MEDERMA® works best on newly formed stretch marks (depending on your skin color, stretch marks start out as pinkish, reddish brown, or dark brown streaks). Unfortunately, once stretch marks have faded to a silvery white, they do not respond as well to MEDERMA®."

I used to sell this stuff called Strivectin when I worked for a nutritional store. It isn't cheap (120 bucks a bottle), but there were customers who did have stretchmarks from pregnancy and the product helped them. I started lifting weights about five years ago and my arms are much bigger now. I have some stretch marks on the inside of my arms that the cream didn't really help, so who really knows? One problem may be that I didn't use it long enough (just over four weeks).

Alrighty I was walking through costco and I discovered that they sale StriVectria -SD (striadril) for 68.00. You get ((2)) bottles. On the box it says it will reduce stretch marks by 93 %. I noticed the guy above mentioned it as well. Seems like it would be worth a try ;)

I have the same issue with strechmarks on the inside of my biceps from lifting...I covered my whole arms with tattoos and you cant see them any more....too extreme? obviously if the skin is loose...I don't advise tattooing it, but if you've just got marks, it's a thought.