MSE Pregnancy Club 25

martafdz

sexymouse wrote: »

Also saw that my stretch marks under my bump have got worse though. Has anyone tried the cussons mum and me stretch mark fader? Does it work?

I was going to post this the other day, but I forgot: Palmers Massage Cream for Stretch Marks with Bio C-Elaste. Not any Palmers, but only this one. Not the oil, not any cream, it has to be the one that has Bio C-Elaste.

It has the same components as the Trofolastin cream (not sold in the UK), which was developed by an independent lab and so far is the only cream that has been studied by an independent medical research group with positive results.

I have used it for two months and my purple stretch marks have faded, I would say 60% are almost normal colour, 30% are red and only 10% remain purple. I used it once a day, generally before bed time. It is sticky, but hey, if it works!

I always check medical journals to see if there is any scientific base to what brands claim, usually there isn't because they use results obtained only in their labs and under very specific circumstances. However, have a look here at the abstract of a paper on the latest treatments for stretch marks: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1524-4725.2009.01094.x/full There is a section about the Trofolastin, which as I mentioned is not sold in the UK. Nevertheless, its active ingredients are: Alpha tocopherol (aka Vitamin E), Centella Asiatica (aka Gotu Kola) and Collagen Elastin. These ingredients appear all in that Palmer's cream I mentioned but not in all Palmer's products. Only the ones with the Bio C-Elastane, which is a combination of Collagen, Elastin, Centella Asiatica, Sweet Almond Oil and Argan Oil. The other ingredients of Palmer's Massage (or Lotion) cream for stretch marks are: Cocoa Butter, Vitamin E and Shea Butter.

I am prone to stretch marks. I used lots of oils and creams when I was young to get rid of the ones I had on my hips, nothing really made them fade away quick. But I can say that this one has made them fade very quickly, but I have been constant. It costs about £6 and I use a tube a month or tube and a half, but I am using it behind my knees, on my thighs and hips, my belly and my breast. So I use quite a lot. I tend to wait for Boots offers to buy in bulk, for me it has been money well spent.

jules68

Sorry I dont post much, have head like a sieve most of the time and have been doing earlies at work which generally wipe me out

Huge congrats to rups for passing your driving test.

ATM my eczema is driving me mad !! it has really flared up and my b o o b s are worst, feel like scratching them off. Piriton is not helping much. Feel down about it which makes me a moody moo. Feel sorry for my OH.

Cake4brains

Sorry, I forgot to say earlier, congrats to Bellola and Kittycat

Ikkle, no plans to be induced, all going well of course

Been feeling nauseaus all day. Hope the MS isn't coming back, I really don't envy you dizsie

ikkle87

Cake4brains wrote: »

Sorry, I forgot to say earlier, congrats to Bellola and Kittycat

Ikkle, no plans to be induced, all going well of course

Been feeling nauseaus all day. Hope the MS isn't coming back, I really don't envy you dizsie

Oh thats good then, my friend was induced at 38 weeks with her twins so I wasn't sure if it was the norm or not. x

morocha

marta, thank you for that, i will have a look. It is been 5 years since i had DD and had Strech marks around my belly button, i started this pregnancy using the Palmers Cocoa butter, smells beautiful ! I will give this one you posted a go and let you all know the results in a few months time. x

moneypuddle

My god! It should be a crime to be this uncomfortable!

moneypuddle (37 weeks) x

martafdz

Thanks morocha, I started to see a difference within 6-8 weeks. I always look in medical journals to see how reliable a solution is, specially when it is about cosmetic, beauty products or natural remedies. Google Scholar is awesome for that, you might not have access to the whole article, but generally you can read the summary, which is all I need... I would not understand the whole thing anyway!
It is not a miracle, but at least its efficacy has been proven to some extent and mine have faded quite a lot.

sexymouse

Thanks for that marta - have spent a lot of the afternoon looking online for things, and most of them contained vitamin A which is obviously a no during pregnancy and breast feeding. Will have to have a look for that cocoa butter. Maybe I can treat myself with my Boots points.


jules have you got any diprobase or similar you could put on to soothe the eczema? Something that I found online that is meant to relieve itching and is safe for pregnancy (was looking it up for a friend who has PEP - the itchy rash you can get in pregnancy) is putting a load of porridge oats in a tied up clean sock and running a cool bath and putting this in it - it turns the water milky. Alternatively, you can put the oats in a blender until they become a powder and put the powder directly in the bath. Be careful when you get out though, as it can make the bath a bit slippery. It's meant to be really good for your skin. They use it in the states to relieve chicken pox in children - apparently the relief lasts for a couple of hours.

sexymouse

marta is it this one?

martafdz

sexymouse wrote: »

marta is it this one?

Kind of, only one of those, the massage cream for stretch marks BUT it has to be the new formulation, it has a blue bit on top that says wiyh BIO C-ELASTE. That's the only one that has all the ingredients, the other ones have the old formula and miss some ingredients. I used normal Palmers before but I only had some results with that specific one, which is also the only one with all the ingredients. Go to the shop and check if it is the new one, it has to contain: vitamin e (aka alpha tocopherol) elastin, collagen and centella asiatica (aka gotu kola). The one with Bio C-elaste has all that.