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Original poster

Stretch marks...

42 replies

SmallSilverElephant · 07/09/2021 15:10

I have a really boring musing about stretch marks as I was just admiring mine whilst sunbathing in the garden and wandering around mumsnet and putting the world to rights! Grin

I have quite a few stretch marks acquired on my thighs, boobs and hips during puberty. That was a long time ago and they've all faded now. I got them because I 'developed' quickly in a short space of time. I don't have any on my stomach as a result of pregnancy.

My 15 year old daughter was showing me hers last night. She has them on her hips, thighs, bum and boobs for the same reason - puberty. She entered lockdown looking like a little girl and came out of it most definitely a woman.

No one has ever commented on them until a couple of years ago until a man I was seeing asked if I'd put on/lost a lot of weight in the past. I hadn't/haven't but he didn't seem to believe me and said he'd never seen/noticed stretchmarks on a woman before (he'd never dated anyone with children). He really believed I'd done setting out of the ordinary to get them. I thought most women would have some at least.

Obviously he was an idiot Grin but I just wondered how common it is.

Tell me about your stretchmarks! (Exciting stuff!)

OP posts:
Mariell · 07/09/2021 15:19

I don’t have any and I’m in my 60s. My mother never had any either.

My daughter had them from when she was a young teenager, it was due to a growth spurt and she’s never been overweight.

I think it’s just in your genes whether you are more prone to get them or not.

My daughter is very fair skinned and my mother and I aren’t so that may be a connection?

RampantIvy · 07/09/2021 15:21

None here either, not even from pregnancy. I'm 62.

Original poster
SmallSilverElephant · 07/09/2021 15:22

My daughter is very fair skinned and my mother and I aren’t so that may be a connection?

Interesting. My daughter and I are both very fair skinned.

OP posts:

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Skin conditions
LizBennet · 07/09/2021 15:24

I don’t think it’s a “fair skinned” thing, I don’t have any and I’m very pale.

Original poster
SmallSilverElephant · 07/09/2021 15:24

I must be the only one then! 😳

OP posts:
LizBennet · 07/09/2021 15:28

I never had a major growth spurt though tbh, I’m 5ft 5 and was probably that height at 14 🤔 I’m small breasted too, so there wasn’t much chance of stretch marks occurring there either 😂 I think it’s a genes thing though, my two sisters don’t have them either, even after pregnancies.

DramaAlpaca · 07/09/2021 15:30

I've had three pregnancies and don't have any at all, neither does my DM.

However, two of my boys have them on their backs, thanks to growing like weeds over a few months during puberty.

Mynameismargot · 07/09/2021 15:30

I have some on my hips and breasts from puberty too. I didn't think that it was particularly unusual?

NerdyBird · 07/09/2021 15:31

I have them in those places from puberty and I know many of my friends at the time had them too. My mum has similar ones. Neither me or mum got any on the tummy in pregnancy but some of my friends did.

BogRollBOGOF · 07/09/2021 15:32

I have pale, fine ones on my thighs from early adulthood.

My abdomen is a crinkled mass of them from my humungous bump. I lasted until about 32 weeks before my skin gave up, but people already thought I was full-term by then and there was still a lot of stretching to go!

Original poster
SmallSilverElephant · 07/09/2021 15:35

Yes, mine are pale and fine. None on stomach but then both my babies were tiny.

I was just surprised he'd never seen them before and a bit Hmm that he was so disparaging about them. They've never bothered me and are barely noticeable now.

OP posts:
FluffMagnet · 07/09/2021 15:40

Yep have ones over hips and thighs from puberty (boobs developed VERY slowly, so fortunately there even though I didn't think so at the time!) With pregnancy, again just a couple over my hips. Weird. I do literally bathe in oil when pregnant though, but suspect it is all a con and just genetics.

BarryTheKestrel · 07/09/2021 15:48

I have them on hips and thighs from puberty, stomach from pregnancy, boobs, I have no idea where they came from or why as I have never been anything beyond an A cup, even in pregnancy.
But yes, I have them. My husband has them too on his hips and arms, he has been overweight, underweight and everything in between so his are likely from this.

addictedtotheflats · 07/09/2021 15:59

I got them pretty bad as a teenager and I wasnt particularly overweight. Mine include the usual boobs hips bum thigh combo but i also acquired 3 very large (about 6 inches long and 1/4 inch wide) stretch marks on one side of my stomach around 18. Funnily enough I got very few during pregnancy and just a couple on my stomach just above my bikini line and no loose skin despite having a 9lb baby. I was expecting them everywhere. Theyve all faded to silver now but I was very self concious of them growing up being average sized.

justneedtogo · 07/09/2021 16:03

I am olive skinned, a petite size 6 and put on over 3 stone with each of my pregnancies (big babies!) I am lucky enough not to have any stretch marks on my tummy but I do have some stretch marks on my boobs and all over my bum. I never had any during puberty but then I was a slow developer, even if a bit early.

If anyone is looking for anything to help reduce the appearance of stretch marks (not that anyone needs too because as OP said they are very very normal!) please don't get suckered in by these expensive 'miracle creams' doing the rounds on Instagram and FB! I stupidly spent £40 on a bottle (I forget the name 🙄) only to discover its 'wonder ingredient' was Shea Butter. Yes plain old Shea butter. This is what is in Palmers Coco Butter (much cheaper at £3ish a bottle) and after using after every bath/shower my stretch marks now are barely visible 😃 Highly recommend.

itssarcasmjoan · 07/09/2021 23:11

My 15yrd old has loads on her thighs and bum from puberty

Lottsxx · 07/09/2021 23:12

So does my 10 year girl it’s common babe isn’t it

Elouera · 07/09/2021 23:25

Mine were the same as you OP. I was a tall, thin 11yr old and puberty stopped me growing up and instead outwards! My mum took me to the GP at that age, as had no idea what these purple marks were on my breasts, bum and thighs!!! It was humiliating Blush

She'd had none, nor her sister or mother, so had no idea what they were (long pre-internet!). I've also dated men who had never seen them, so its not that uncommon to have never seen them!

I absolutely hated them, and tried everything as a later teen to just have smooth 'normal' skin. Swimming carnivals, the beach, friends with a pool, filled me with dread. They have faded now, and I'm far more comfortable in my skin, but it was dreadful!

Lottsxx · 07/09/2021 23:26

I bloody started puberty at 8 I cried my eyes out!

longue · 07/09/2021 23:27

I thought it was hormonal hence why teenagers get them

longue · 07/09/2021 23:28

I used to model & most had them on bums, legs.

RobinPenguins · 07/09/2021 23:35

I’ve got absolutely loads, I’m really prone to them.

The first ones I remember noticing are horizontal lines on my back from where I shot up height wise at 11. I didn’t know what they were. I can remember hiding in the toilet cubicles putting powder on the ones on my inner thighs before PE lessons in year 7 and year 8 when we had to wear gym shorts, to try to cover them up. I wasn’t fat then, it was just puberty. I have really deep ones on my hips from when they grew: a friend in the Miss Selfridge changing room aged 14 said it looked like I’d been bitten by a shark. The ones on my stomach are from weight gain in my late teens and early 20s, too much booze and takeaways.

The only time I didn’t get any was during pregnancy, my stomach skin had already been stretched through weight gain and loss over the years.

None of mine are “tiger stripes”, “signs of giving life” or whatever, they are just marks of a body that grew and changed, not something to be either ashamed of or proud of.

Flavabobble · 07/09/2021 23:41

Didn't get them when pregnant, but they started appearing in abundance after giving birth. I'd see new livid purple ones every morning for a while.
All faded now, and barely noticeable.

longue · 07/09/2021 23:47

weirdly older mums are far less likely to get them then young mums

RainbowMum11 · 08/09/2021 00:02

I got some on my hips/thighs during puberty
None during my first pregnancy but I have a couple on my stomach now following my second.
I actually rather like them - like my c-section scars, they are part of my life