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I Am Incredibly Disappointed over Stretch Marks Treatments
Let me start by saying that there's probably no other person in the whole world who has tried as many treatments for stretch marks as I have. It would take me a lot of time to list them all, but, I hate my stretch marks so much that I have tried everything. Anything you can imagine, I have tried it. When I say "everything", I really mean everything! I hate them with passion and saying "wear them with pride" won't change my reality. Platitudes are not helpful in cases like this.
My ex husband always told me that I was beautiful and he couldn't care less and he could barely see them, but one day I checked his phone and he was texting someone else saying what a turn off my stretch marks were for him and that he had to close his eyes during intimate moments. But, that's another topic. I do not want to digress. We were planning on having a baby, but, I am glad we divorced (not because of the stretch marks comment, but for other stuff).
I hate my stretch marks especially because they are in many areas. Luckily, I do not have them on my breasts nor on my tummy, but, from the pubic area down, they are everywhere: hips, thighs, inner thighs, back of the knees, near the calves, sides of the knees. I can't wear a skirt or shorts and I stopped going to the beach since they become much more visible when you tan. I can't imagine if and when I get pregnant, how many more I will get.
Before moving forward, I also want to say that I am extremely objective. I am not a naysayer. For instance, I have tried Latisse and it worked amazingly. I use Retin A on my face and it is fantastic. I had breast augmentation in 2013 and I am super happy. So, when something REALLY works, I have no problem saying it. I do not harbor unrealistic expectations.
I have never been super fat, never had kids, and had stretch marks since my adolescence. The most I have fluctuated has been 15 lbs. Because of that, I used all types of potions, creams, gels, vials that claimed to prevent stretch marks and treat existing ones. Not only they didn't treat the existing ones, but, they didn't help prevent other ones at all. In fact, I have a couple near my arms (where the arm blends into the pectoralis muscle) and these were caused by working out. Yes, working out can cause stretch marks too in people who are prone to them.
I have tried expensive lasers, fraxel, palomar, carboxytherapy, Plasma Fibroblast pen (which made them darker, deeper and wider), biodermogenesis, microdermoabrasion, deep peels, Retin A, Vitamin C, silicone sheets, Mederma, every cream and oil imaginable and, ultimately, microneedling.
Microneedling is touted so much that I thought I was going to have some results. At least an improvement. By the way, the stretch marks I had treated with Plasma Fibroblast were in a specific area. I wanted to treat a specific area just to see if that would help, and I am glad I treated only a very small area with the Plasma Fibroblast pen because it made my stretch marks 100% worse.
So, I decided to treat my stretch marks with dermarollers (microneedling). These streatchmarks were the ones that had *NOT* been treated with the Plasma Fibroblast Pen but I had treated them with lasers, peels, carboxytherapy. I had probably over 40 sessions in the last 7 years, because I was told that it takes many, many sessions to rebuild the collagen. I had regular microneedling without anything, then microneedling plus radiofrequency (Infini Laser), dry tattooing, then I had microneedling plus PRP. Nothing. Zero. Nada. Not even the tiniest improvement. They are still there. They are not narrower, they don't blend in better. Waste of money and time. Pain endured for nothing.
I used different doctors and nurses. One for the Infini Laser (which is microneedling plus radiofrequency), another one for microneedling and PR. I am not even going to say who these doctors are because I do not think they made a mistake or they exercised poor judgement when treating me. I just think that in 2019, almost 2020, there is nothing for stretch marks no matter what doctor treats you.
I think part of us believe that when a treatment is extremely painful (like Infini laser is!), it must work somehow. Also, what happens with these treatments, especially microneedling, is that your skin gets very red and swells up a little bit, so, it gives you the illusion that the stretch marks are improving. Once you heal, the edema disappears, the redness disappears, they are still there.
Be very, very, very careful with before and after pictures. I can't stress this enough. In some cases the photos are photoshopped. Even when they are not photoshopped, they are taken under completely different lighting conditions. That alone makes a HUGE difference. Seeing them in real life, it's completely different. Stretch marks are one of those problems that can look obvious in real life, but not obvious at all in photos, especially if you change the angle or inclination of the camera. Think about it. Look at all the amazing before and after pictures of stretch marks treatment and see if they were taken under the exact same lighting conditions and the exact same angle. I guarantee you that they are not.
The logic behind microneedling makes a lot of sense, and that is why I was hopeful. You create several controlled microwounds. You leave the area surrounding every little wound intact, so, that area sends healing nutrients and new collagen should fill the striae up. Too bad in reality this is not the case.
In his book The Concise Guide to Dermal Needling, Dr. Lance Setterfield, M.D. explains why dermal needling is useless for stretch marks. To oversimplify, the fibroblasts are too far apart to bridge the "gap".
Drinking tons of water might have other health benefits but won't do anything for stretch marks. I am just tired and frustrated when I read people saying that their stretch marks completely disappeared with coconut oil or bio-oil (the latter is full of chemicals). Why do they do that? I feel insulted any time I read of someone claiming they went away with some coconut oil, because, here I am. Endured pain, wasted thousands of dollars, and they are still there.
Sorry if this is too long, I wanted to be as informative as possible.
My ex husband always told me that I was beautiful and he couldn't care less and he could barely see them, but one day I checked his phone and he was texting someone else saying what a turn off my stretch marks were for him and that he had to close his eyes during intimate moments. But, that's another topic. I do not want to digress. We were planning on having a baby, but, I am glad we divorced (not because of the stretch marks comment, but for other stuff).
I hate my stretch marks especially because they are in many areas. Luckily, I do not have them on my breasts nor on my tummy, but, from the pubic area down, they are everywhere: hips, thighs, inner thighs, back of the knees, near the calves, sides of the knees. I can't wear a skirt or shorts and I stopped going to the beach since they become much more visible when you tan. I can't imagine if and when I get pregnant, how many more I will get.
Before moving forward, I also want to say that I am extremely objective. I am not a naysayer. For instance, I have tried Latisse and it worked amazingly. I use Retin A on my face and it is fantastic. I had breast augmentation in 2013 and I am super happy. So, when something REALLY works, I have no problem saying it. I do not harbor unrealistic expectations.
I have never been super fat, never had kids, and had stretch marks since my adolescence. The most I have fluctuated has been 15 lbs. Because of that, I used all types of potions, creams, gels, vials that claimed to prevent stretch marks and treat existing ones. Not only they didn't treat the existing ones, but, they didn't help prevent other ones at all. In fact, I have a couple near my arms (where the arm blends into the pectoralis muscle) and these were caused by working out. Yes, working out can cause stretch marks too in people who are prone to them.
I have tried expensive lasers, fraxel, palomar, carboxytherapy, Plasma Fibroblast pen (which made them darker, deeper and wider), biodermogenesis, microdermoabrasion, deep peels, Retin A, Vitamin C, silicone sheets, Mederma, every cream and oil imaginable and, ultimately, microneedling.
Microneedling is touted so much that I thought I was going to have some results. At least an improvement. By the way, the stretch marks I had treated with Plasma Fibroblast were in a specific area. I wanted to treat a specific area just to see if that would help, and I am glad I treated only a very small area with the Plasma Fibroblast pen because it made my stretch marks 100% worse.
So, I decided to treat my stretch marks with dermarollers (microneedling). These streatchmarks were the ones that had *NOT* been treated with the Plasma Fibroblast Pen but I had treated them with lasers, peels, carboxytherapy. I had probably over 40 sessions in the last 7 years, because I was told that it takes many, many sessions to rebuild the collagen. I had regular microneedling without anything, then microneedling plus radiofrequency (Infini Laser), dry tattooing, then I had microneedling plus PRP. Nothing. Zero. Nada. Not even the tiniest improvement. They are still there. They are not narrower, they don't blend in better. Waste of money and time. Pain endured for nothing.
I used different doctors and nurses. One for the Infini Laser (which is microneedling plus radiofrequency), another one for microneedling and PR. I am not even going to say who these doctors are because I do not think they made a mistake or they exercised poor judgement when treating me. I just think that in 2019, almost 2020, there is nothing for stretch marks no matter what doctor treats you.
I think part of us believe that when a treatment is extremely painful (like Infini laser is!), it must work somehow. Also, what happens with these treatments, especially microneedling, is that your skin gets very red and swells up a little bit, so, it gives you the illusion that the stretch marks are improving. Once you heal, the edema disappears, the redness disappears, they are still there.
Be very, very, very careful with before and after pictures. I can't stress this enough. In some cases the photos are photoshopped. Even when they are not photoshopped, they are taken under completely different lighting conditions. That alone makes a HUGE difference. Seeing them in real life, it's completely different. Stretch marks are one of those problems that can look obvious in real life, but not obvious at all in photos, especially if you change the angle or inclination of the camera. Think about it. Look at all the amazing before and after pictures of stretch marks treatment and see if they were taken under the exact same lighting conditions and the exact same angle. I guarantee you that they are not.
The logic behind microneedling makes a lot of sense, and that is why I was hopeful. You create several controlled microwounds. You leave the area surrounding every little wound intact, so, that area sends healing nutrients and new collagen should fill the striae up. Too bad in reality this is not the case.
In his book The Concise Guide to Dermal Needling, Dr. Lance Setterfield, M.D. explains why dermal needling is useless for stretch marks. To oversimplify, the fibroblasts are too far apart to bridge the "gap".
Drinking tons of water might have other health benefits but won't do anything for stretch marks. I am just tired and frustrated when I read people saying that their stretch marks completely disappeared with coconut oil or bio-oil (the latter is full of chemicals). Why do they do that? I feel insulted any time I read of someone claiming they went away with some coconut oil, because, here I am. Endured pain, wasted thousands of dollars, and they are still there.
Sorry if this is too long, I wanted to be as informative as possible.
Provider Review
Several different providers