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You've got stretch marks and dont know what to do about them. Its also too late to take preventive actions to avoid stretch marks in the first place. If you are in this situation, you have plenty of company. Millions of people have developed stretch marks for a number of different reasons, but reducing the stretch marks on their bodies has become a priority for them.
Your Options to Reduce Stretch Marks
There are a number of actions that can be taken to reduce the appearance of these unsightly skin defects. As you probably know, stretch marks commonly develop on certain areas of the body, such as your hips, abdomen, and thighs. To a lesser degree, they can also develop on the upper arms, sides of the breast or behind the knees.
For the most part, stretch marks cannot be totally removed without taking a more radical approach to treating the affected skin. Most individuals opt for the more practical and affordable treatment options by using various crèmes and lotions. This approach can be very effective in fading or lessening the effect of your stretch marks, without breaking your budget.So what can you do to reduce stretch marks and their physical appearance on your body? Follow these five tips for reducing stretch marks and you should see a dramatic difference in your skins appearance:
Avoid Sudden Weight Gain or Loss
As a preventive measure, you should avoid sudden weight gains or losses, as your skin cannot adjust quickly enough to avoid skin damage, or stretch marks. Even though your skin has elasticity properties, it really has limits. A sudden change in weight, such as pregnancy, can exceed the skins ability to stretch or flex. When this happens, tears will occur in the skin, and the resulting scarring gives the appearance of white, red, or purple lines. If you moderate the rate of weight change, your odds of reducing stretch marks are greatly enhanced.
Exercise "Smart"
If you exercise frequently, you want to be sure to exercise "smart". When you overdo and expand muscle mass, such as in weight training, you risk overstretching your skin and developing stretch marks. Take your exercise seriously, but be smart and recognize that moderation is key to avoiding stretch marks.
Apply Skin Moisturizing Lotions
You can use a good quality skin moisturizer as not only a preventative, but also as an aid in minimizing or fading existing stretch marks. Damaged skin can and will heal if given the proper care. A quality skin care product, preferably using natural botanicals and herbs, can help reduce stretch mark damage if used in a regular skin care program.
Opt For Cosmetic Surgery
A more radical approach to eliminate stretch mark damage is to opt for cosmetic surgery. Because of the risks involved with this procedure, it should only be pursued if other alternatives do not produce satisfactory results. This procedure can permanently remove your stretch marks, but is very expensive and does have inherent risks.
Get A Tan To Hide Stretch Marks - NOT
Many stretch mark sufferers believe that getting a tan at the beach or at their favorite tanning salon is an acceptable method to reduce the appearance of their stretch marks. The truth is that this option does reduce their appearance, but the amount of UVB rays that your skin will absorb can be dangerous, and ultimately cause skin cancer. This method is clearly not worth the risk avoid it!
As you can see, with a little common sense and regular skin care, you can effectively reduce your stretch marks and their unsightly appearance. Imagine the enjoyment you will experience when you dont need to be embarrassed about going to the beach anymore, or wearing that revealing evening gown at your next special event. If you follow these five easy tips, you will be well on your way to feeling better not only about your skin, but yourself as well!
In a recent case in Manhattan, random tanning salon was visited by an FDA investigator who came incognito, and began to ask cursory questions regarding how the salon operates. The salon failed at question number 1: should customers wear goggles always?
The clerk of the tanning salon said no, and was still adamant about saying yes even when the FDA investigator identified who exactly he was and explained that it was already SOP or standard operating procedure to require goggles whenever UV light was involved.
The FDA ordered a seizure of the tanning equipment in that particular salon, and sent out a warning to all the other tanning salons that might have been doing it all wrong these past few years.
Real dangers
The FDA stated that inappropriate use of UV light in tanning booths might be the cause of so many skin maladies and might even lead to death. Premature skin aging and skin cancer are on opposite poles of the deadly spectrum- imagine what lies in between.
And we are not only talking about skin damage here. When UV light hits the surface of the human skin, it penetrates much more deeply than any ordinary person would have imagined.
You see, there is a misconception that UV light only damages the outer layer of the skin. This is a very dangerous misconception. Many people have already paid for dearly with their lives. UV light (UVA and UVB, it doesn't matter which) actually penetrates the small blood vessels beneath the skin tissue. This in turn causes the veins to lose their general strength, eventually leading to vessel damage and internal hemorrhage
Discoloration and vessel damage can occur in many parts of the body. This may even lead to the formation of travelling blood clots. Travelling blood clots in turn, can cause stroke in individuals of any age.
Now let's talk about stretch marks themselves. Tanning in the first place does not treat stretch marks. It simply darkens the areas where the stretch marks are present, thereby masking the true appearance of the skin. When this happens, an illusion is created, but unfortunately the stretch marks are still there.
In some case, tanning might be effective in erasing these stretch marks temporarily, but when the tan disappears, there is no telling how the stretch marks would look. Either they remain darkly discolored, or they go back to their original appearance. In some lucky instances, they pale and acquire a silvery white appearance.
Older stretch marks are harder to hide using the tanning solution- which should prompt anyone who would like to use the power of UV radiation to hide a portion of their body's skin.
In any case, all precautions should be taken to make sure that the tanning will not do more harm than good. The formula in skin care should always be balanced, and the benefits should always outweigh the ill effects.