Home remedies for stretch marks. There are numerous remedies for stretch marks and most of them seem to work fantastic ( don't frown at me ! ). These home remedies start showing results by the first week and with continued application, one can completely diminish the stretch marks.
Stretch marks are technically called "striae" . It is not clear why they are formed, but this is generally due to rapid growth. However, they may also be forming due to loss of collagen at certain locations in skin. The dermis stretches as a result of need but unfortunately, it cannot. This leads to small tears in dermis. These tears are visible as stretch marks on the epidermis or the outer skin we have.
But, our point of discussion here is to find home remedies for fading stretch marks. It is important to understand that stretch marks do not fade in a day or week. It takes a long time, somewhat like 3 to 6 months. These are tears in the middle layer of skin, and it needs to heal completely for marks to disappear.
Stretch marks heal faster when they are in youth stage. When stretch marks are just formed, they are reddish or somewhat purple in colour. At this stage, home remedies or conventional treatment works better and faster. When stretch marks are deeply etched into dermis, they become difficult to treat, but not impossible.
( Photo Courtesy: phuthinhco )
They mostly form on the hips, arms and shoulders. When we grow as teenagers, such stretch marks can form on different regions of skin. The faster one starts using remedies, the earlier they get vanished. If your stretch marks have been for many years, then it may take a long time to vanish them completely.
Home remedies for stretch marks list
Although most things help with stretch marks, but these home remedies work in diminishing stretch marks in reasonable time.
1. Coconut oil
This oil has the remarkable property of healing damaged skin. If stretch marks are caused as a result of some sudden change, the skin's layer called dermis may have been damaged. Coconut oil penetrates down to the dermis and heals the skin. This function of coconut oil makes it a simple and working remedy for stretch marks.
- Ingredients
Cold pressed extra virgin coconut oil
- Directions / How to use
When skin is clean and dry, apply coconut oil. Rub it firmly into the skin and massage the region for about 10 minutes. Then allow the oil to absorb completely into skin. This takes some time.
- Why it works ?
Coconut oil heals the skin. It promotes repair of the tears in dermis. When the tears are repaired, stretch marks are hardly visible.
"Coconut oil , applied daily is a powerful natural cure for stretch marks. You can start to see results in a week. "
2. Virgin olive oil
Apply this oil on the stretch marks area. Do not just apply it along the lines. Rather rub it on the entire region. It is one of the best natural oils for the skin. It takes some time and effort for the results to show up, but olive oil too does the job. It protects the skin and promotes it to heal.
Olive oil doesn't show as fast results as coconut oil, but it too works. You can improve the efficacy of this oil if you warm it up a bit in the microwave.
( Photo credit : sirius-c-publishing )
3. 100 % pure Cocoa butter
This butter is one of the best remedies for stretch marks. Many women use it regularly to keep stretch marks away. But, it should be 100 % pure. It is the butter extracted from cocoa beans, the same ones that are used to make chocolate. There is something in these beans which make them effective for maintaining skin health.
( Photo credit : vegan-baking )
4. Ground Cocoa Powder
Get some ground cocoa powder. This is used to make chocolate. But, you do not have to make chocolate out of it. Take a handful of this powder and dry rub it on stretch marks region. Rub it vigorously till the skin turns reddish from the rubbing. Leave the skin that way for some time and then wash it with warm water. It is soothing for the skin. This treatment helps in diminishing the appearance of stretch marks.
"Similar effect is produced by ground coffee powder. You can use both of them and see which one produces better results. "
( Photo credit : normanack )
5. Sugar syrup
Dissolve sugar in water and boil to make a syrup. Then cool it lightly and apply on the skin. Sugar nourishes the skin. Then wash it off completely using warm water.
Warm sugar syrup is very sticky. You can however easily massage it like a viscous oil. It doesn't absorb well into skin.
"You can also use corn syrup for a similar effect."
( Photo credit : orthia_turan )
6. Honey
Just like sugar syrup, one can use honey because it too contains natural sugars which provide it sweetness. These natural sugars - glucose, fructose and others are helpful in regenerating skin. This is how you can apply honey.
- Ingredients
Cinnamon
Honey
- Directions / How to use
Take some cinnamon and rub it on the stretch mark skin. When the skin is vigorously rubbed, apply pure honey. Keep it for 30 minutes on the skin. Rub it on the skin. Afterwards wash it with warm water. This constitutes one treatment. Doing this treatment twice every week is good for stretch marks.
- Why it works ?
Cinnamon powder does the mild exfoliation. Then applying honey makes it work better. Honey penetrates into the skin and does the healing work.
7. Rose water
An extract of rose in distilled water can be used to
clean the skin prior to application of any home remedy for stretch marks. Rose water is a wonderful cleanser. It brilliantly removes away skin sebum ( natural skin oil ) and dead skin cells which do not get removed even after regular cleansing.
( Photo credit : redfernstudio )
8. Use Vapor Rub ( Surprising Isn't it )
Regular vapor rub for cold works great for stretch marks. This is how to apply it.
- Ingredients
Vapor Rub
Cotton cloth
- Directions / How to use
Wash the skin where there are stretch marks. You can use rose water. Then put a generous amount of vapor rub and apply it on the cotton cloth. Secure the cloth tightly onto your skin and keep it overnight.
- Why it works ?
Well, a few people use this remedy to great results. You can try it too. It seems to show results overnight. Do not use vapor rub in sensitive skin areas, like in the groin as it contains menthol which would make you feel burning chilling cold.
9. Regular Baby Oil
You can also diminish your scars just by applying baby oil for a few weeks. It takes longer to work, but if you are truly regular, results will be there.
10. Egg Mask
Prepare an egg mask for your skin. It is quite beneficial in providing nutrition to skin from the outside and making it taut. You should choose the number of eggs depending on the surface area of skin having stretch marks. Keep the mask for 30 minutes and bear the awful smell. After that much time, wash off with warm water.
The proteins in egg help boost collagen production underneath the skin. If you do it frequently, this natural cure is enough to treat stretch marks.
11. Rose hip seed oil
This is the oil extracted from the hips of a rose plant. It contains high concentration of many essential nutrients, especially Vitamin C. Rose hip seed oil can be used to reduce the visibility of stretch marks.
Although many people apply it directly on skin, but this is not recommended. It is an essential oil and may cause chemical burns.
- Ingredients
Rose hip seed essential oil
Olive oil or Coconut Oil ( as base )
- Directions / How to use
Add 8 - 10 drops of rose hip seed oil is about 50 ml of base oil. Then use this oil to massage on stretch marks.
- Why it works ?
Because of the presence of very high levels of Vitamin C, this oil stimulates healing of skin via production of collagen ( the same old method ). With regular use, it can give better results than plain coconut oil.
Other essential oils which can help with stretch marks healing are
wheat germ oil, helichrysum oil and tamanu oil.
12. Exfoliating stone ( a loofah will just not do )
Get a good quality natural stone which is used for exfoliating dead skin cells. Rub it nicely on the skin area which contains the stretch marks. It exfoliates the useless cells and exposes
clear skin. Now, apply any stretch mark remedy that you like.
There are various kinds of exfoliating stones and they have been used since ancient times. These are rocks which are especially suited for rubbing on skin, like pumice.
Use them daily on stretch mark region to exfoliate deeply and allow home remedies to percolate deeper and work faster.
( Photo credit : ambuj )
13. Shea Butter
This is the butter extracted from the nut of a tree found in Africa. It has excellent skin moisturising properties. This butter is slightly costly, but it is great for skin. It is not proven to help with stretch marks, but you should definitely try it.
Shea butter is great for massaging skin around the joints, like the knee or elbow. Sometimes, people can get stretch marks here too.
14. Aloe Vera gel
The fresh, natural gel arising from aloe vera leaves is a wonderful skin healer. You can try it on your stretch marks. Apply it 2 - 4 times daily. It gets readily absorbed into skin, so you don't have that uncomfortable oily feeling that comes with oils.
Mimicking the Modern Treatments for Stretch Marks
One can mimic the results which are produced by conventional dermatological treatment for stretch marks, except for the fractional laser resurfacing treatment. Laser is highly effective in vanishing stretch marks and its effects are wonderful. However, other methods can be done at home to some extent.
These treatments are generally needed for long standing stretch marks.
It is a step by step process and is quite intensive.
Exfoliation :
This is needed to shed outer layers of skin fast. Modern treatments make use of Vitamin A derivatives to increase the rate of skin shedding from the inside. This can be reproduced by -
- Eating lots of carrots. They are high in Vitamin A, although not retinol form but beta carotene form.
- Eating foods rich in Retinol.
Stimulating regeneration of dermis :
This is done with the help of a roller instrument which has needles on it. These needles are generally 0.5 mm to 2 mm in depth. When you roll this onto our skin, the needles prick and cause pain. This procedure forcibly causes injury to dermis layer and therefore, body has to heal them. In the process, skin is healed and stretch marks fade away.
Simulating Collagen production :
To increase the production of collagen , one should eat a highly specific diet.
- Eat high quality protein, one which has good composition of amino acids. Some of them are tuna, salmon, eggs, skimmed milk.
- Eat foods very rich in Vitamin C. These are acai berry, Indian gooseberry ( Amla ), camu camu, rose hips etc.
Collagen in synthesized from protein we eat and Vitamin C is required for that reaction.
Prepare a homemade stretch marks cream :
After you are done exfoliating, it is time to apply a cream that heals the stretch marks. You can use ingredients from the things mentioned above and prepare an oil base or cream base. For a cream base, you can use petroleum jelly or glycerin. Add ingredients like rose hip seed oil, coconut oil, shea butter, aloe vera or other things that are working for you into a cream .Apply this cream generously on stretch marked skin.
This is an intensive approach to treating stubborn stretch marks at home using natural treatments.
Herbal remedies for stretch marks
Ayurveda remedy for stretch marks is to apply a paste of turmeric on the skin. It prevents skin scars due to expansion of skin.
Ancient Egyptian herbal remedy for stretch marks : They used fruit juices to apply on the affected skin region. One can try different fruits like pineapple, lemon, guava or things like that.
Another simple remedy for this condition is to take foods rich in zinc. So, eat pumpkin and watermelon seeds. They not only prevent stretch marks but also support in healing them.
As we get old, the skin starts to sag and stretch marks may not heal as quickly. One should use home remedies more frequently and eat healthier diet.
Reduce stress in life. Stress can reduce skin regeneration and thus promote stretch marks as we age.
In case of stretch marks, prevention is important to ensure that no other stretch marks form on skin. make sure you are eating healthy. Keep skin slightly moisturised and prevent dryness.
