Stretch Marks!!

[Guest]

To those of you who are using dermarollers... I just got mine (a 1.0) and tried it out for just a few minutes. It doesn't feel like it is penetrating the skin at all. Should I push harder? I'm using it on my abdomen, butt and thighs. After I expected pinpricks of blood but there was nothing.

Any advice?
Shoo

[johnny9]

To those of you who are using dermarollers... I just got mine (a 1.0) and tried it out for just a few minutes. It doesn't feel like it is penetrating the skin at all. Should I push harder? I'm using it on my abdomen, butt and thighs. After I expected pinpricks of blood but there was nothing.

Any advice?
Shoo

Hey shoo not sure i can be of any help as i havent tried needling yet but im sure someone on here will be able to answer your question.

I think im going to go to extremes when i start my needling and opt for the 2.5mm needles. Gonna go all out, 2.5mm should be plenty deep enough to get the ball rolling.

Anyways good luck with your treament shoo

[Kojiro]

I agree with the guest. Perhaps the improvement in your brother's skin coincided with weight loss. However, I sincerely doubt that the weight loss itself was the cause of improvement. Most obese people notice their stretch marks for the very first time after losing weight, even thought they might have had them for years beforehand. Their stretch marks are no longer stretched as tightly and therefore look more obvious.

If you don't beleive me, try this experiment at home: Stand in a postion where your stretch marks are lit from the side (e.g. next to low lying window). Position a mirror directly in front of you. You will notice that the marks look particularly obvious and indented in this lighting. Now pull on the skin in a direction PERPENDICULAR to the length of the marks to simulate the effect of weight gain in the area. What happens? Your stretch marks should look significantly better and less indented.

Stretching your skin or pushing on it cannot be compared to weight gain or loss. I am talking about gradual changes over a period of years. Your skin adapts the best it can to weight loss, as can obviously be seen by an overall reduction in skin mass. If you were measure the mass of the skin on a 300 lb individual you would find that the skin itself is heavier than what it would be after that individual gradually lost 100 lbs. Even skin severely damaged with stretch marks will retract to a point and reduce its overall surface area. What parts are lost (i.e. stretch marks vs. undamaged skin) largely comes down to genetics and environmental factors. Still there are people who's stretch marks disappear on their own, that is pretty much an inarguable fact. Weight loss does seem to help this happen, but for many people, maybe even most people, the marks will remain after the weight loss.

[DGerf]

Hi everyone,

I've been following this forum for a couple of months and I thought I would add my two cents I'm a 19 year old guy and first started getting stretch marks about 2 years ago as a result of weight lifting. I started trying to treat them about a year ago with tretinoin creams like Retin-A, I used it for a couple months but it didn't work. Then I tried a few of the tons of creams you can buy _ that supposedly will cure them, and none have worked. I did start using Trilastin about 2 months ago, and I have seen very minimal results, nothing to get excited about, but still something.

About 4 weeks ago, I started using Jean Wu's method on a small patch of them on my left hip. I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up, but I really think they are starting to fade. I won't start recommending this method until they are completely cured (or at least very inconspicuous), but I am going to keep it up. Next week, I will begin using her method on some other major areas where I have stretch marks, and will continue this method for at least 4 months. If they have not faded a good amount by then, I will try something else.

I know some people on this board have expressed skeptical views of Jean Wu's method, but I have to go with what I am comfortable with trying. I am not comfortable at this point with trying needling or chemical peels; I might start trying these methods if Jean Wu doesn't work. However, on this forum if we are all trying different methods, one of us should eventually come up with something.

I plan on taking progress photos every month, and am willing to post them on this board if I can figure out how. Otherwise, if this method really does work, I will give my email address for anyone who wants to see the pictures.

DGerf

[Guest]

Hi J

I was wondering if you've taken any more pictures after having let the skin rest? Would be good to see the progress.

Thanks.

[Rez]

Still there are people who's stretch marks disappear on their own, that is pretty much an inarguable fact. Weight loss does seem to help this happen.

Hey Kojiro, I read all your posts with great interest. However, I'm afraid that on this occassion your line of reasoning completely evades me! I don't understand how the reduction of subcutaneous or visceral fat is meant to have an impact on the orientation of elastin and collagen fibres in the dermis!

Are you trying to lose weight at the moment? I know from past experience that young skin usually shrinks following weight loss despite the presence of striae. However, to claim that weight loss ALONE can make stretch marks "disappear" is mumbo jumbo at its finest!

[cr]

Hi DGerf,
Good Luck with the Jean Wu method! I have read on other forums people claiming that it cured their stretch marks, and I really believe these were real people submitting those posts. It helped to fade my stretch marks and made my skin so radiant. I stopped doing that particular method because my stretch marks that are indented became permanently deeper. If your marks are not indented then I think that it will really work wonders with time and patience.

Hi Shoo,
That is great that you are using a dermaroller. I believe in the directions it says to use light pressure. I would start off slowly and over time you will feel what is the appropriate pressure to use. I have a dermaroller with shorter needles too, and I have never bled.
All the best!

[Guest]

Hi there,
Can anyone recommend a good seller of glycolic acid on ebay.
Thank you!

Ps. I live in australia

[Guest]

Now I don't know how accurate this is but I found the newspaper articlethe regrown finger tipl, and it gives instructions on how to make the powder. I have typed them below as they appear in the article. Please bear in mind though, that fingertips can sometimes grow back on their own, but this is uncommon and usually only occurs with children (in other words, do not cut your childs or your own fingertip off to try this out )

1. start to make the "pixie dust" by cutting open a pigs bladder and flattening it out.

2.Scrape away the layer of muscle before "cleaning" the remaining collagen rich tissue by shaking it in acid (I presume by acid they mean tca as I have heard this mentioned as being part of the acell forumla, but I am not 100% sure, neither does it say the amount or strength, I think Dr Picart on the other forum said it was a strong tca acid)

3. Dry out the paper like "extra cellular matrix" and grind into powder form

4. Regularly sprinkle powder on severed finger tip

5. Withiin a few weeks, tip grows to normal length, complete with nail and "fingerprint"

Obviously the above instructions refer to a finger tip and not stretch marks. But I just thought I would post it on here in case there is anyone brave enough to give it a try and perhaps let us know how they get on..Kojiro? Nothing to lose by trying the method and if it did work on striae, we could all produce our own en mass. Obviously either needling or abrasion would have to be used to help it reach the dermis, perhaps also encorporating emu oil as the carrier.

J

[Guest]

Hi J

I was wondering if you've taken any more pictures after having let the skin rest? Would be good to see the progress.

Thanks.

I have to borrow the dig camera so no I haven't yet, to be honest I am waiting now until the marks are so significantly improved that they are more or less gone, there seems little point in posting more until I get to that point.

J

[Guest]

Lol. J, we sure think alike. I was wondering about this very thing yesterday, how can I find out how to make "Acell" and try it out on my own. Although I do live in an area with many farms and I know a few farmers, I don't know anyone that raises pigs. I wonder if I could buy one at the supermarket or if it would require a fresh bladder. anyway, I hope someone takes this and runs with it to find out if it truly works. I'm crossing my fingers!

Thanks cr and Johnny9 for your advice with the dermaroller. After two days I can see tiny little scabs where the roller did penetrate so I gues I'm doing it right. I think it's your routine, cr that I copied from this thread that i"m going to loosely follow. I really wanted to try a longer needled roller but didn't know if I could handle the pain associated with the 2.5 length. I wasn't able to find out where to purchase Elma cream and I wanted to be able to use the roller everyday or every other day. I'm not sure how often using the 2.5 roller is reccommended. My hat's off to you Johnny9 for being so tough about it. When you do start your routine PLEASE let us know how it goes.

BTW, if anyone is concerned about sagging skin, I read an article where lutein has shown some positive results. You must take it orally and then topically. I went and got some softgels and broke them open and used it with some aloe vera gel. The studies show there was about 20% more elasticity of the skin and up 60% more hydration after two weeks. I'll let you know if it works for me.

Shoo

[Kojiro]

Still there are people who's stretch marks disappear on their own, that is pretty much an inarguable fact. Weight loss does seem to help this happen.

Hey Kojiro, I read all your posts with great interest. However, I'm afraid that on this occassion your line of reasoning completely evades me! I don't understand how the reduction of subcutaneous or visceral fat is meant to have an impact on the orientation of elastin and collagen fibres in the dermis!

Are you trying to lose weight at the moment? I know from past experience that young skin usually shrinks following weight loss despite the presence of striae. However, to claim that weight loss ALONE can make stretch marks "disappear" is mumbo jumbo at its finest!

I'm not saying losing weight removes stretch marks. I am saying that some people's stretch marks completely disappear over time, and this is actually quite commonly found after losing weight. Personally I have lost over 60 lbs now (in about 1.5 years) and my stretch marks look a hell of a lot better than they did. Now I am treating my marks so I can't say it was from the weight loss alone, but the other user was saying your stretch marks will look worse after weight loss with no/little exceptions, that is a load of crap. If your skin is always under large tension by your weight its not going to be able to degrade scar tissue as extra dense collagen is a vital component to the framework of your skin. If you relieve the tension (return to a healthy weight) then your skin will start retracting and degrading areas to accommodate the new size. For some individuals these ares that are degraded are the ones that were damaged. Just go on to forums where people have lost a lot of weight. Many people still have their stretch marks, but there's enough individuals who's stretch marks completely disappeared after returning to a healthy weight that writing it off as impossible is naive. Essentially if you are over weight, losing the weight MAY help improve, and in some cases even remove the stretch marks. In some cases they can also appear worse, this is generally seen when the individual is left with loose skin. In the end it all comes down to genetics and environmental factors.

[Kojiro]

Obviously the above instructions refer to a finger tip and not stretch marks. But I just thought I would post it on here in case there is anyone brave enough to give it a try and perhaps let us know how they get on..Kojiro? Nothing to lose by trying the method and if it did work on striae, we could all produce our own en mass. Obviously either needling or abrasion would have to be used to help it reach the dermis, perhaps also encorporating emu oil as the carrier.

J

I'm not convinced that acell is an overly viable treatment. Cutting open each stretch mark to apply a powder to it just isn't reasonable in my case, maybe someone with a minor case would be interested, but I still don't think it is a good idea especially without completely detailed instructions, expert opinions and sterile equipment. Also keep in mind that acell isn't needed to re-grow finger tips. This is well documented to happen without using any products. I have a friend who cut the tip of her finger off with a kitchen knife and it regrew. This regenerative ability is also believed to decline with agent.

[Jennifer8055]

I used to have really bad stretch marks around my belly region ever since I gave birth to my three kids. I tried Vitamin Oil and cocoa butter but it didn't seem to work. I recently read an article by a lady who claimed that a particular cream supposedly got rid of her stretch marks completely. I tried it and it worked pretty well. My stretch marks nearly disappeared within 4 weeks. You can read more about the lady's article at the link below

http://stretchmarkszapped.wordpress.com/

[Guest]

Obviously the above instructions refer to a finger tip and not stretch marks. But I just thought I would post it on here in case there is anyone brave enough to give it a try and perhaps let us know how they get on..Kojiro? Nothing to lose by trying the method and if it did work on striae, we could all produce our own en mass. Obviously either needling or abrasion would have to be used to help it reach the dermis, perhaps also encorporating emu oil as the carrier.

J

I'm not convinced that acell is an overly viable treatment. Cutting open each stretch mark to apply a powder to it just isn't reasonable in my case, maybe someone with a minor case would be interested, but I still don't think it is a good idea especially without completely detailed instructions, expert opinions and sterile equipment. Also keep in mind that acell isn't needed to re-grow finger tips. This is well documented to happen without using any products. I have a friend who cut the tip of her finger off with a kitchen knife and it regrew. This regenerative ability is also believed to decline with agent.

This is true, but I do not think we can dismiss it out of hand (no pun intended). Each stretch mark would not need to be cut open, just abraded or needled, and though I agree it would be better if it was produced in a lab by a qualified tech, it seems to be quite straight forward to make for anyone who worked in that field.

I think this site has to consider this as a possible cure, until it is proven otherwise, but it would probably like you say need to be produced in the correct conditions, sterile equipment etc, so if anyone is up to the task now is the time to shout.

J