Thursday, September 30, 2010

Get rid of Stretch Marks

What are Stretch Marks?
Stretch Marks not only appear due to pregnancy but are very common among teenagers too. They can be red, purple or white in color, distorted in shape, long or short, wide lines and instantly recognizable. And, they can be present anywhere on the body but specially concentrated where you might accumulate a lot of fat like shoulders or upper arms, breasts, belly area, fat on the back just above and including the buttock region and thighs front or back. They can occur on anyone at any time.

Why do Stretch Marks appear?
During teenage, there are a lot of physical changes in the human body. One of the changes is sudden growth hence consequent stretching of the skin. Thus, these sudden stretches can tear the collagen and make the skin thinner in certain areas. The places where the collagen has torn and has become thinner are prone to appearance of stretch marks.
Stretch Marks can appear due to sudden height increase, sudden weight gain and weight loss, muscle growths, excessive exercising using improper equipments and also due to hormonal changes in the body.

How to prevent Stretch Marks?
A proper balanced diet is always best. A balanced diet ensures proper collagen production and maintainence, hence reducing the chances of collagen tear. Crash Diets and weight loss programs should be avoided. I have already discussed the ways to increase skin elasticity which is one of the ways to prevent stretch marks.

How to treat Stretch Marks?
  • Coconut oil repairs the inner lying tissue structure of the skin
  • Almond oil is rich in vitamin E oil so helps with regeneration of collagen
  • Lavender oil (if you can get hold of original and pure lavender oil) is good for healing stretch marks or lavender flower masks are also good for the purpose though you can not find lavender in India
  • Cocoa Butter and Shea Butter (if you get hold of unrefined cocoa or shea, mostly found in African stores) have lot of important nutrients for the skin
  • Aloevera gel is again great for stretch marks, mix the aloevera gel with almond or coconut oil and it is great as a moisturizer for dry skin too

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