“Stretch marks happen when your body grows quickly for any reason. Your skin can’t stretch enough to keep up. These long, thin, rippled marks are also called stria.“
Collagen is a protein that makes your skin more elastic. If your skin doesn’t have enough, as your body expands, the marks that show up are known as stretch marks. You may get stretch marks due to any of the following reasons:
Quick weight gain
Childhood growth spurts
Pregnancy
Bodybuilding
High amounts of steroids from steroid medication
There are many stretch marks removing creams and lotions that promise instant action, but the problem with most of these products is that they may have side effects and eventually worsen the condition. It is therefore best to stick withnatural remedies, although the marks won’t fade almost immediately, your skin health on the long run will be better for it.
Castor Oil
Castor oil is gotten from seeds of the castor oil plant Ricinus Communis. The seeds are processed into what is known as the castor oil. The physical characteristics of the oil includes a pale yellow colour and it’s somewhat thick with a peculiar odour. Although the oil is incorporated in the manufacturing of products such as paints, dyes, inks and perfume it has amazing benefits for the human hair and skin, of which one of them includes helping to clear stretch marks. One of the components of the oil is triglyceride, which is a type of ricinoleic acid that enables the oil penetrate into the skin and keep it moisturised and healthy. The castor oil also has antibacterial properties which helps fight off the bacteria contained in the stretch marks hence aiding the fading process. You can buy castor oil from any drug store or supermarket, gently massage the oil on the affected area regularly to see results.
Aloe-Vera
Ancient Egyptians called the aloe vera plant the ‘plant of immortality’. Till today, the aloe vera plant is widely recognised for both it’s medicinal and cosmetic purposes as many skin care, hair and beauty products include the aloe vera plant in its manufacturing. The aloe vera plant contains mainly water and a host of other minerals and vitamins essential for the skin. The antioxidants available in the plant helps in restoring and replacing the damaged skin cells with new ones encouraging the fading away of the stretch marks. Aloe vera can be easily sourced out and obtained from the market, when you’ve gotten the plant, cut open an aloe leaf, then extract the gel within and massage it into the area with stretch marks , this can be done twice a day.
Baking Soda
Sodium Bicarbonate, also known as baking soda, is a fine white powder formulated from sodium ions and bicarbonate ions. It is majorly used in baking pastries but it also has beauty uses. Baking soda can act as an exfoliating agent, peeling away the dead skin cells and letting the new ones replace them, this goes a long way in minimising the appearance of the stretch marks. There are a number of ways to use the baking soda for clearing stretch marks, combining it with lemon juice and rubbing the paste to the affected area or combining the powder with water. For either method you use, let the paste dry before rinsing thoroughly with water. Repeat this once daily for effectiveness.
