Hello all! I just wanted to share my experiences thus far with my fellow owndoc dermarollers. I've had terrible stretch marks on my hips ever since I was 18 or so, from teenage growth spurts and college weight gain. No matter how in shape I've been, the skin there has always been crepey and thin and the coloration alternates white stretch marks and darker skin in between them. (I'm very fair skinned) You'd think they would fade to match my skin, but the dark pigmentation in between the scars makes them stand out. The crepey skin has the dark pigmentation, I'm sure they're related.
[I don't know how I discovered dermarolling/needing this past winter... I think I was looking into laser stretch mark removal and saw diagrams of how the laser basically punches deep holes in the skin, and looking into that I came across needling. This is going to sound like an ad, but thank goodness for this website. Sarah has so many instructions up and lots of good advice.] I ordered a wide 1.5mm roller, a set of single needles, vit c powder, vit c bottle, tretinoin .05%, and Infadolan at the beginning of January and I have done 3 cycles of rolling and needling since. (I try for once a month, except when March was too busy) I can say very confidently that my stretch marks have improved by 50% in only those 3 cycles/4 months. The skin is firmer and thicker and there is far less crepeyness, there's just a little now in the center of my, ehem, gluteus
that's only noticeable when I flex my butt. The alternating pigmentaton has dramatically evened out and individual stretch marks are far less noticeable. The most stubborn ones are in the rear where it's pretty difficult to needle, I don't think I've gotten to those as densely as I have the ones on the sides of my hips, the latter which have just about vanished completely.
I prep during the days before rolling/needling with vitamin c and tretonoin, and maintain by using these every other day the rest of the time. I try to single needle both hips (side and rear) over several days, since it's very time consuming and you want to be thorough. I apply tretinoin to the red, raised marks, let that absorb, and then apply Infadolan, and apply infadolan every day for the next week. Actually initially the marks will look WORSE once the red goes away because they will be all swollen, but that goes away in a couple weeks. After the single needle marks have healed completely I, firmly pushing into the skin, dermaroll both hips, 8 times back and forth horizontally, 8 times vertically, and 8 times diagonally. It can be really painful, I don't use a numbing cream, just ice packs. The worst part is starting that 2nd round of rolling (the 8 x vertically) on top of the horizontally rolled skin. It's basically the last thing you want to do in the world at that moment. But do it, be strong! Then by the 3rd round, the diagonals, I think your nerves are pretty overloaded and it doesn't hurt as bad.
- Beware, if you have a cocktail to help the process, it will make you bleed more easily. To me it's worth it, but it could be scary if you're not prepared.
- I keep my vitamin C in a dark bottle that Sarah sells, in the fridge. I've never had it oxidize that way, except one or twice I have found orange streaks on my sheets or underwear from the vitamin c rubbing off me.
- If you single needle, before you start a needling session, try the needle you've been using (and sterilizing). Then try a totally fresh one. Oftentimes I don't discover that the needle I've been using has dulled until I make myself try a new one, just to see if it has. It cuts down on the pain a lot. And actually, single needling barely hurts at all.
- I have tried to enhance the effects of this routine with cardio exercise to lose some chub in the area and weightlifting targeting the hips and butt to fill out the area with muscle and firm it up. I think it's helpful if you want to lose weight to do it while you're rolling, because I think it'll help firm up that newly-loose skin. That's just my superstition.
If you're rolling for stretch marks or considering it, please do it! Take the time to densely single needle, grit though the pain of rolling, and do it for at least a year. I'm really excited to see how much more progress I can make, and I'm kind of in disbelief that I've had this much improvement, doing it myself at home, but about 150 dollars in materials. Laser removal kind of seems like a scam now. :/
Topic: Encouragement for those rolling for stretch marks! (Read 15548 times)
