Treating stretch marks as soon as they appear is your best bet at beating them. So slather on some cocoa butter twice a day, and maybe even pick up some Bio Oil if it's not too much.

Unfortunately, as skinny as I am, I have them going from the back of my hips and stretching across my butt (I have basically no hips and a fairly small butt, so obviously this is frustrating). Because of my insane dysphoria, I NEVER looked at my body, in a mirror or otherwise, so I never noticed them when they must have developed in puberty, and now it's too late in the game to treat them. :/

If you're really willing to be proactive about this, try going on a diet. Start out by cutting out sugars. You'll lose a lot of weight just from that (my skinny self lost 10lbs in high school just from cutting sodas out of my diet, and I didn't even drink too much soda). Green tea that you make yourself is a GREAT way to help lose weight as well and also helps your skin. But the bottled stuff has a LOT of sugar in it. You need to use the actual tea bags. You can even add honey to it to make it sweeter. Use that to get over any sugar cravings you may have (also, once you start cutting out sugar, you'll crave it less and less, and will be more drawn to "real" foods).

Also, cocoa butter helps make the skin tighter while you're losing weight, so loose skin doesn't become too much of a problem, even with faster weight loss. Win/win.

Nipping this in the butt now is your best option, so hopefully you'll be able to do something about it! And even if they don't completely go away, they will fade over time, and become less noticeable over the years (although obviously addressing your eating habits and dropping the weight is necessary to keep from developing more). I don't know when mine showed up, but they're almost the same colour as my pale skin now, so they're not so in your face, and they're easier to overcome when looking in the mirror.

I have so many stretch marks it isn't even funny; my entire abdomen is completely wrecked due to a twin pregnancy.

Cocoa butter only helps when the marks are just starting to appear, but it can't do much to help them after they've happened. But the best product to use is (as D0LL said) good ol' South African 'Bio Oil'. It really does help, but you have to use it every day until they fade. It's for sale all over the UK, but here's the link to the product at Tesco as an example so you'll know what to look for: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=261499499

But yeah, over time they fade into fine silvery lines that you can only really see if you get a tan.

Agreeing with everyone who said Bio Oil.

It's been rated the best product to deal with stretch marks and scarring in a number of trials. I have a lot of both and have used Bio Oil for about a year now with significant reduction in both size and color pigmentation.

Because it's an oil it goes surprisingly far so even though a bottle seems expensive it actually lasts a lot longer than you might think.

Quote from: D0LL on May 31, 2013, 11:00:20 AM

Also, cocoa butter helps make the skin tighter while you're losing weight, so loose skin doesn't become too much of a problem, even with faster weight loss. Win/win.

Really? Never heard of this. I'm starting to drop weight just because I stopped drinking and kinda concerned. I'm not really big anywhere but my gut but it's huge and I don't want a bunch of skin hanging there.
I can't really control the rate of weight loss since most of my calories came from heavy drinking.

Quote from: Jamie D on May 30, 2013, 03:43:41 PM
Oh yeah, natal males get stretch marks too.  Maybe a little less common, because stretch marks are often associated with pregnancy.

Lifters using anabolic steroids often get stretch marks.  They come from the skin not being bale to catch up with the growth of the body part(s).

My MTF wife can attest to that. She gained quite a bit of weight after her first marriage ended and the military being "done" with her services. She has "claw marks" that go straight up and down her belly. Once she started losing the extra baggage, the lines lightened but the dents are still there.

Anyway, hydrating yourself can really help. I've not seen improvements on my "tiger stripes" by using cocoa butter but losing weight and hydrating myself really helped.

I like this topic because I feel like nobody ever talks about stretch marks.  Or that the only people that get them are pregnant ladies.

I have them on my upper arms and I feel uncomfortable if I'm not wearing long sleeves outside. Or when my blood is being drawn...

I went from 130 pounds to 160 within two months. In short, I was stuffing my face because of depression. I now battle with food addiction and comfort eating every single day.

As a result I have stretch marks on my thighs, my hips, and my breasts. I was absolutely horrified of them when they first started showing on my thighs but have since stopped caring because it's too depressing to think about them.

Lots of men get stretch marks from being overweight or doing too much bulking too fast. Once I do finally manage to lose the 80+ pounds I've gained since my first serious weight gain my story is that I was once fat, but now I'm healthy and I have the marks to remind me that I never want to be that way again.

I am also a heavy drinker. I'm borderline alcoholic because it's a way to deal with the stuff I don't like in my life but feel powerless to change.

Quote from: randomroads on May 31, 2013, 11:12:40 PM
I now battle with food addiction and comfort eating every single day.

I am also a heavy drinker. I'm borderline alcoholic because it's a way to deal with the stuff I don't like in my life but feel powerless to change.

Ohhh, be careful with T. Gives me the Moo Moo Munchies bad. I've resorted to just keeping junk out of the house. If it's not here I can't eat it.

I drink a few Miller Lite's a few times a week but try to limit it.

Gotta get rid of that self defeatist attitude. You are transitioning now. You do have the power to change and you are. 

My first two shots I was ravenous. I literally ate my pantry dry and still wanted more. Right now I'm forcing myself to eat three meals a day with a snack between lunch and dinner. That's the healthy thing to do, but my brain and stomach don't like it!

It's been brought up and I will confirm -  I have stretch marks across my chest and shoulders from gaining 40 lbs of muscle in a year. The most that has ever happened is that my buddy touched them (I was in the gym with a muscle shirt on or else he wouldnt have noticed)  and said "whats that" I just said"stretch marks from getting big to quickly" he just shrugged, put his headphones back on and continued his work out.

So moral of the story - stretch marks dont have to be dysphoric, guys get them and guys also tend not to care too much about what another guy's body looks like.

People can get stretch marks for a variety of reasons.  I've been underweight my whole life, and I have stretch marks.  They're on the backs of my legs, just below my knees.  I can only guess I got them from growing too fast during puberty.  They're light and really not noticeable unless you're looking for them, so yours should fade over time as well. 

Also, I've heard plenty of people talk about having stretch marks, both guys and girls.  I actually hadn't ever heard of it being an exclusively or predominantly pregnant lady thing.  It isn't, so don't worry about that.

Losing weight actually seems to create more stretch marks than get rid of them...

I have way more obvious stretch marks around my middle after losing 50 lbs than I did before.

I try to think of them as progress marks.

Quote from: spacerace on June 01, 2013, 12:10:24 PM
Losing weight actually seems to create more stretch marks than get rid of them...

I have way more obvious stretch marks around my middle after losing 50 lbs than I did before.

I try to think of them as progress marks.

Good to know as my gut is going down rapidly since I gave up alcohol.

So cocoa butter and bio oil? Or biotin oil?

Quote from: girl you look fierce on May 30, 2013, 09:40:38 PM
I think it also much better for your skin to lose weight slowly, I lost it too fast maybe.

this is such a myth like the hair shaving thing i wouldn't be worried

Quote from: spacerace on June 01, 2013, 12:10:24 PM
Losing weight actually seems to create more stretch marks than get rid of them...

I have way more obvious stretch marks around my middle after losing 50 lbs than I did before.

I try to think of them as progress marks.

That just blows. My wife has no problems with the lightening of her stretch marks by losing weight but now this has me concerned for me. I balloned up over some BC that I had for awhile (plus sedentary lifestyle and depression) so I've got quite a few, not just on my thighs either. I can't win. *headdesk*

You can't dwell on the loose skin and stretch marks.  There are so, so many more benefits to losing weight - especially for trans guys.  Passing is so much easier with less weight, surgery will have better results, etc.  Plus the health benefits of course.  People that lose weight while starting T seem to have fantastic results, especially in combination with starting a workout routine that includes some sort of strength training.

I think losing weight brings out the stretch marks more because the skin is no longer pulled taut, so the marks are condensed and more obvious.   

Quote from: spacerace on June 02, 2013, 05:02:53 PM
You can't dwell on the loose skin and stretch marks.  There are so, so many more benefits to losing weight - especially for trans guys.  Passing is so much easier with less weight, surgery will have better results, etc.  Plus the health benefits of course.  People that lose weight while starting T seem to have fantastic results, especially in combination with starting a workout routine that includes some sort of strength training.

I think losing weight brings out the stretch marks more because the skin is no longer pulled taut, so the marks are condensed and more obvious.

Oh so you think losing weight doesn't actually cause them? Doesn't seem to make sense that it would - I mean the skin is already stretched from weight gain.

Quote from: Not-so Fat Admin on June 02, 2013, 05:41:59 PM
Oh so you think losing weight doesn't actually cause them? Doesn't seem to make sense that it would - I mean the skin is already stretched from weight gain.

Right.  They are there already from the stretching caused by adding on pounds, but once the weight is gone the skin is back to being pushed together, so they are fully revealed and darker.

I went from 230 to being at 180 right now, so my skin was/is really stretched out - hence my stomach looks like a zebra.  I expect to see a lot more as I (hopefully!)  drop the next set of weight. Oh well.

Quote from: spacerace on June 02, 2013, 05:51:29 PM

Quote from: Not-so Fat Admin on June 02, 2013, 05:41:59 PM
Oh so you think losing weight doesn't actually cause them? Doesn't seem to make sense that it would - I mean the skin is already stretched from weight gain.

Right.  They are there already from the stretching caused by adding on pounds, but once the weight is gone the skin is back to being pushed together, so they are fully revealed and darker.

I went from 230 to being at 180 right now, so my skin was/is really stretched out - hence my stomach looks like a zebra.  I expect to see a lot more as I (hopefully!)  drop the next set of weight. Oh well.

Ah ok. Thanks for the info. Congrats on your weight loss and good luck with the next set!

Quote from: spacerace on June 02, 2013, 05:02:53 PM
You can't dwell on the loose skin and stretch marks.  There are so, so many more benefits to losing weight - especially for trans guys.  Passing is so much easier with less weight, surgery will have better results, etc.  Plus the health benefits of course.  People that lose weight while starting T seem to have fantastic results, especially in combination with starting a workout routine that includes some sort of strength training.

I think losing weight brings out the stretch marks more because the skin is no longer pulled taut, so the marks are condensed and more obvious.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't think it was all bad news. I really want to drop weight anyway, at least so I don't look like I'm pregnant. (Seriously, I look weird because most of my weight is situated in my gut.) It would probably benefit me either way. I also want to work on building muscles since I don't want to be scrawny. Would you say it's easier to shed weight when on T than without T?