I have no picture for this one..I don't think I want one. Here's the deal..I went to Dear Abby this morning, as usual, (don't judge, it's a routine) and there was THIS letter from a former fat woman who'd lost 200 pounds. She was left with hanging skin that insurance wouldn't pay for removing. I think they should, but, that's not my question. From what I read it sounded pretty bad. Not only in an aesthetic way, but, it also sounded like it hindered her physically. I've seen that problem before on tv shows, usually on that gross learning channel.
It made me wonder about skin. I even Googled 'do some people have more elasticity in their skin than other people' and variations of that question. I got no real answers. I got a lot of advice on 'improving' skin elasticity, most of them ads for pregnancy products. I also found THIS article, which sort of pissed me off. This person claims drooping skin is a myth. He's a man, of course. Typing to a former pregnant woman. He claims the skin is a living entity which adapts. Yeah, buddy, you carry a fully formed human to term and then you can tell us about it. I also found some articles that claim black skin is more elastic than white skin. I always suspected that. I subscribe to the old 'black don't crack' theory. Black woman almost always hold their age better than us white girls..to a certain point. Then they're as fucked as the rest of us. It just takes longer.
Anyway, the reason I wondered is because in the past few years I have steadily lost a lot of weight. I've never lost 200 pounds, but, I have lost 125. That's quite a bit. I was a tub of lard at one point, and now I have bones sticking out at my neck and ribcage that I didn't even know I had. Even when I was skinny, and I was skinny most of my life. Anyway, it's not attractive. I sit on a folded pillow now because my tailbone sticks out. It would be funny if it wasn't so annoying. I look okay with clothes on, but, naked, I look like a Halloween decoration. Some asshole put a full length mirror next to the shower. Probably my son. (Thanks for that, kid.)
My point or question is..I don't have any hanging skin. I have one tiny ugly pucker at the end of an incision site, but, it's a scar, not hanging skin. It looks like a beginner's sewing project in home ec. (I'd give them a C-, since the rest of it's good and it's a foot long.) Did I not have to lose enough weight to have hanging skin? I'm really short..did I mention that? Yeah, so 125 pounds is a lot for someone like me. You'd think I'd have some excess skin. I also never had stretch marks after two kids. I've seen some of my friends battle scars from pregnancy and they were extreme and shocking, even on people who were big to begin with. With my first child, my body returned to a size zero within two weeks with no noticeable changes except bigger boobs. But, I was a teen. (I think you'd have more elasticity in your skin when you're young.) With my second, I was nearly 30 and the only change was, I had to go on a diet for the first time in my life to lose the baby weight. I saw a few very thin faint white lines on the undersides of my breasts. You could only see them in bright sunlight. My stomach remained tight and flat with no marks at all. Both my babies were large and I was small, so the stretching was pretty extreme.
So, was I just lucky? Do some people have more elasticity in their skin than others? If black people have more, how do they get it? What are they born with that white people aren't? How come hanging skin after weight loss is a problem for some people and not others? Shouldn't someone be trying to figure this out and make a billion dollars? What stretch mark remedy were you advised about? Olive oil? Lotions and potions? It's too late for me to worry about it, I'm old and I don't care anymore. I'm just curious. Tell me about your 'battle' scars and treatments.
14 comments:
BTW, how come celebrities don't get stretch marks?? They never do.
It's because you don't have stretch marks that your skin bounced back into shape. Your skin is very elastic and handles additional weight with ease.
Women in my family... Not so much. I have horrible stretch marks from mid thigh to upper abdomen. I was also a teen with my first child, gained about 45 pounds with him and you'd have thought I was pregnant with triplets. I thought my skin was going to literally tear open and the baby would pop out. (He weighed 11 lb/2 oz, so I guess I could have been carrying trips.)
And celebrities do get them. But those are the ones who keep their clothes on. I wouldn't be caught dead at a beach with this saggy leftover skin. Once it stretches out like that it never goes back without surgery.
You were very lucky.
Celebrities bathe in unicorn piss, that's why they don't get stretch marks.
Is that with added glitter or not, Melvin? We need to know.
Lauren
Just wondering..OMFG, 11 pounds????????????????
Did you need a section??
I'm 5'8" and big boned. Really, that's why I looked emaciated at 135 but most of my life I was between 140 and 150 which is good for me. Before menopause, I could & did eat a ton of junk without gaining weight but with menopause, the weight just piled on. I ended up at 200. Well, with diet & exercise and constant vigilance, I'm back down to about 155 but I do have saggy skin. I was hoping that it would get better with time. It did take over a year to lose it and it's been at least 3 years since then. I guess, it's luck of the draw. Some people have elastic skin, some people have red hair.
I'm one of those lucky women who after 4 kids not a stretch mark in site. My mom had 8 and she never had any either. My sisters are the same. So heredity has to play a part.
I lost a lot of weight too, 62 lbs. The only place I see signs of it are the inside tops of my arms and right above my knees. I have noticed over the past 3 years my face has gone south but I think that's from smoking, the sun, and enormous stress more than anything. I'm in my mid 50's so I guess it's bound to happen.
My butt doesn't hang and my boobs are still quite nice too though I never nursed my babies.
It's interesting how everyone is different when it comes to this stuff. Someone really needs to figure it out. I remember the first face line I ever saw. It was on my forehead and I was 28. It freaked me out and I cut bangs. It was deep too, it seemed to appear overnight. Little did I know what was to come. Ick. Oh, and fair skinned people seem to get old faster. My facial skin is like crepe paper. I kept it at bay for a long time. But, there comes a point where you say, fuck it. Unless you're rich or famous.
8 kids and no stretch marks is amazing. That blows my mind. Oh, and someone tell me one celebrity with stretch marks.
Oh yeah.. I had an emergency c-section after they let me labor for nearly 30 hours in the hospital. He just wouldn't fit.
But he also slept nearly 6 hours after feeding right from the start. So I didn't complain too much.
Jebus! My first was over 9 pounds and he had teeth. I thought that was bad. I got no section, I labored for 4 days. I was actually IN the labor room for 4 days. Crazy bastards made me deliver him. That's what you get in a state home for wayward girls. It was considered your just punishment for sin. I'm glad things have changed. Now girls get reality tv shows. LOL.
Totally genetics and luck of the draw. I'm on the loosing end of that draw, by the way. I lost weight a couple of years ago, and then slowly gained it back. When I was at the peak of my weight loss, I remember being disappointed at my bingo wings. I have very few stretch marks, though. None on my abdomen, and very few on my breasts or arms.
Christina
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