Stretch mark horror

[HouchinBawbags]

DD is 13 and is growing into a beautiful young woman inside and out. However, in the last few months she has developed stretch marks. Not a couple here and there, but covering quite a few parts of her body. She's a healthy, slim size 10 (5ft 6") but her breasts are completely covered with so many bright red angry stretch marks that they look like loaves of red tiger bread. Same goes for her thighs, hips, and even the backs of her arms and knees! It's like her skin has zero elasticity. She's been putting Bio oil on two or three times a day for a while now but I don't think it's strong enough. What retinol creams do you recommend?

As someone who grew up with hairy gorilla arms (before I realised you could just shave the bastards!) and severe back acne despite having a killer figure (oh those were the days!) and a pretty decent mug, I grew up insecure and hid away in long sleeved jumpers even in the hottest days of summer. I really don't want DD to be self conscious too.

It's all well and good teaching her that being different or having marks is okay, and she is very at ease having two very different size boobs as I've repeatedly assured her it's totally normal, the stretch marks that go well above her boob tops - so only hidden by higher clothes - are extremely noticeable.

Anyone know of a super duper magic cream? Or are we looking at a GP/dermatologist visit do you think?

Perhaps try bio-oil. This has been used by my family (not me specifically). TBH, I'm not sure how well it worked but giving it a go made said family member feel a lot more confident, and she just gradually accepted her stretch marks.

bio oil really is the best but it takes time for the stretch marks to fade

Op - please suggest something other than bio-oil

Pp - try bio-oil

Yeah my eldest ds suddenly shot up and his back looked like I'd thrashed him for years. Now he's 25 and they've vanished. Took a while though.

@ElizabethMainwaring

Op - please suggest something other than bio-oil

Pp - try bio-oil

in my defence i know the OP said they have tried bio oil for a few months my point was to give it more time - nothing works over night

I had bad red ones on my hips and legs as a teenager. They faded to silvery ones within a year or so

My ds 19 has had them for some time over his tummy and he does hate them. He seems to grow in huge spurts and is now very tall and I think this has been the cause. I would say that they are fading, but honestly other than oil there is little she can do. Does applying a light fake tan make them less noticeable? I do feel for her.

@chipsandpeas
Sorry, I was really referring to the first poster, whose actual first words were 'perhaps try bio-oil'.

Palmers cocoa butter, and try and not mention it too much. It is quite normal for teenagers to have stretch marks but you need to try and play it down the poor kid will see how bad they are they will fade though.

Ime unfortunately it just takes time to fade. Back in the 90's when it happened to me, I just used whatever moisturiser I could get my hands on. (Perhaps your GP will have some good options though). I had lots on my hips, breasts and my lower back is absolutely covered. They do fade though and were hard to spot after a few years.
One ray of light, I've had 3dc and got just 2 tiny stretch marks from all three pregnancies, so for some reason teen stretch marks don't necessarily mean pregnancy ones!

I would suggest making an appointment with the GP. Excessive stretch marks at such a young age can be incredibly hard to deal with psychologically and they may well agree to refer her to a dermatologist. They can prescribe a tretinoin cream which can be really effective in treating new stretch marks. There are also various light/laser therapies available. No idea if these options are available to someone your daughters age, but at least you can explore the options

DD is the same. She’s grown loads this year especially in lockdown as she just sleeps and sleeps. She has them all over her knees, poor thing.
I had them as a teenager but that’s to do with weight gain. I hated them

@ElizabethMainwaring Perhaps try being a little bit more friendly?? I clearly misread and didn't see that she was already using bio-oil.

Some people really will jump down your throat at anything.

I had some from teenage growth spurts on my hips that faded to barely anything . They do fade over time . Keeping skin moisturized with cocoa butter bio oil won’t hurt either I suppose

You can get retinol body creams that I imagine would help given how retinol works with the skin but she would need to commit to wearing spf If using a retinol as it can make your skin more sensitive to Damage from the sun - well that’s certainly true for when using it on the face / neck area Anyway

I think you can get laser for stretch marks but I imagine it’s pricey and seems kind of drastic

It's an individual thing and some people are just prone to them. They are beneath the skin so I can't see retinol doing anything. They fade to silvery white over time and are not noticeable. Maybe fake tan to disguise them? You can get special camouflage makeup.

[quote ReasonablyUnreasonable]@ElizabethMainwaring Perhaps try being a little bit more friendly?? I clearly misread and didn't see that she was already using bio-oil.

Some people really will jump down your throat at anything.[/quote]
Apologies. I didn't mean to sound so rude
But, call me old fashioned, I always pressumed that one should read the question prior to answering.

She needs to be seen by a dermatologist, asap.

Oh OP I really feel for your daughter as this brought back huge memories from when it happened to me. I was 11 (5'5 and about 7.5 stone) and my breasts had started to grow. The stretch marks appeared overnight and when i say overnight I mean it! I woke up one morning and They were all over my bum , and my breasts, and inner thighs. They were eveywhere, bright red and very deep (if that makes sense). I didn't know stretch marks were a "thing" and thought they were veins. I got my period exactly 1 month later. Has your daughter got hers yet?

I just used scar cream - probably bio oil! There's def a reason why this is coming recommended!

Sorry, I know you weren't asking for us to share our stories!

Thanks all. I'll tell her to keep on with the bio oil but I might give the GP a call too. She's only 13 now but I'd hate for her to be upset by them in the future. I'm covered in them after my babies and don't really care but as a 17 or 18 year old? I probably would have been very self conscious about them.