Lifestyle Choices

The Cause

Stretch marks occur frequently on the abdomen and breasts of pregnant women and on the thighs, hips, and buttocks of women who have been overweight—particularly women who are deficient in zinc, vitamin B6, or both. These two nutrients are necessary for the health of collagen tissue and for the maintenance of a high level of elasticity in the skin. A sudden increase in weight or volume of an area of the body or the swelling of breasts and abdomen in pregnancy results in these unsightly lines, which are difficult to eliminate.

Prevention and Cure

Ensure that you get adequate zinc and vitamin B6 in your diet—if necessary by supplementing it. Women who are on the Pill are particularly susceptible to subclinical deficiencies of these two nutrients, because oral contraceptives have a marked effect on the body’s need for and use of zinc and Bs, along with iron, B2, folic acid, B12, and vitamin C. If you gain weight or become pregnant, treat your skin from outside with preventative measures by rubbing on an aromatherapy oil for your skin type twice a day or by the use of cocoa butter or one of the products specifically designed for preventing stretch marks.

There is supposed to be no cure for stretch marks once they are formed, for the consistency of the skin itself in that area has changed to resemble scar tissue and therefore remains permanently disfigured. Nutritionist Adelle Davis claimed that when one woman who had developed stretch marks during her first pregnancy took 600 iu of vitamin E and 300 milligrams of pantothenic acid daily during her second pregnancy, she found that the old stretch marks disappeared completely and no others formed. I have no experience of this happening, but it might work. What I have seen is that old stretch marks improve greatly with aromatherapy treatment and connective-tissue massage, which appears to bring life back into the tissue by increasing circulation in the area. But while I have seen them fade greatly—enough for the woman to wear a bikini again without fear of looking ugly—I have never known them to disappear completely.

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