Hiding Stretch Marks on Your Arms

Most people have experienced stretch marks on some part of their body. On the arms, or anywhere on the body, they are caused by rapid growth commonly due to puberty, bodybuilding, or obesity. Preventing them is hard to do but possible if you regulate the rate at which you let your arms (body) grow. Obviously this cannot always be done and sometimes just doesn't work, so here are some ways that you can camouflage them.

• Creams and other products that claim to remove stretch marks are available everywhere but are not proven and can be expensive. You can use moisturizing creams and lotions to help with your skin's elasticity which lessens the appearance of new stretch marks to lighter and smaller than they might have been in unmoisturized skin.
• Sleeves can be a great way to easily hide stretch marks. You can wear tanks tops with thicker straps to cover stretch marks on your shoulders, cap sleeves will hide any at the very top of your arm, and short sleeved shirts come with varied sleeve lengths to shroud your upper arm.
• Body makeup is another option and can be applied to almost any area to disguise stretch marks. You want to match the color to your skin tone for the most natural look, but remember that most likely even the water resistant products may come off during extended exposure to the water. Self tanning lotions can help to cover some stretch marks but do not work for everyone. Real tanning and tanning beds will not give the same result however, because stretch marks are less prone to tan.
• Microdermabrasion and laser treatments can be done by a licensed dermatologist to reduce and possibly eliminate signs of stretch marks. Be sure you are seeing a dermatologist that you trust and ask a lot of questions about the procedures. If you decide to use a method like this you want to be sure you know as much as possible about how it is done and what the effects are. Keep in mind that these can get pretty costly depending of the number and size of the stretch marks.

Once a stretch mark appears the damage has been done and it will not go away. But there is good news, over time the red or purplish line that first appeared will usually lighten and eventually get a shade or two lighter than your skin tone hiding itself. When this happens you'll be worrying more about where to wear that cute tank top instead of if you can.