That depends on a lot of things, how overweight you were, for how long, how old you are and so on.
The younger you are the more chances you have of getting rid of the stretchmarks, because the skin has more elasticity. You can try to help your skin along a little though, by losing the weight gradually and slowly, giving the skin time to adjust. I'm guessing that putting on lotion or some sort of body oil would help as well, but I don't know if there is any scientific proof for that. I just know it makes my own skin feel softer and a little less stretched if I put oil on and massage it in. Can't really go wrong with it I guess.
Other than that, I'm guessing it's pretty much down to mother nature....
I hate to totall contradict San, but the truth is that stretch marks do not go away. They will fade over time and making sure that you drink lots of water and keep the skin moisturized will help. There is also some evidence that using vitamin e oil on them will help them fade faster. But once you damage the skin, it doesn't ever go away.
Sorry ... that's pretty much the truth.
It actually depends on how much damage has been done to the skin. Some stretchmarks can actually disappear completely, while others won't. I have seen women who had stretchmarks from pregnancy, and the marks completely disappeared only months after giving birth. Probably just a few lucky ones, but it is possible.
Well yeah. Skin is skin, whether it's stretched or scarred. It's going to look like SKIN under a microscope. That doesn't mean it isn't damaged.I saw something that said under a microscope strecth marks and normal skin look the same. It's not damage, it just has to do with the elasticity if your skin.