When the dermis (the middle of our three layers of skin) is consistently stretched over a long period of time, the skin will lose some of its elasticity, and the small fibers that make up our skin will break, which causes the reddish and purple lines on skin you know commonly as stretch marks. Although they are not pleasant to look at, stretch marks are completely normal and are not an indication of poor health.
Stretch marks usually occur as a result of a considerable weight gain or growth spurt. And though they can occur anywhere, they are more likely to occur on fattier body parts such as breasts, buttocks, thighs, stomach and the upper arms. Unless you gain and lose a lot of weight in a relatively short amount of time, or grow a considerable amount in a small amount of time, you should not develop stretch marks. Once you have developed stretch marks, you won’t ever completely get rid of them, but there are a lot of ways to prevent them and also to treat them so that they are less noticeable.
Most commonly, stretch marks occur on a woman’s abdomen during pregnancy. One suggested method for avoiding them during pregnancy is to massage your abdomen to increase circulation throughout the skin. Another suggestion is to use lotions or creams to keep skin moistened so that the fibers are less likely to break. There are many creams containing cocoa butter or vitamin E as their main ingredient on the market and they have been shown to have a strong effect on stretch marks. However, many creams are not powerful enough to penetrate the epidermis and get to the dermis where the stretch marks are.
Also try to eat foods that contribute to the skin’s health, foods that are high in vitamins such as vitamin E and vitamin C and foods that are high in silica or zinc. These are ingredients that naturally contribute to healthy skin.
There are also prescriptions available for severe cases which are more likely to penetrate deep enough to have a noticeable effect. A few brand names are Retin-A and Tretinoin. They penetrate deep and help to exfoliate dead skin cells to help your skin more easily make new, healthy cells. However, there are many side effects to such prescriptions and a doctor may not prescribe them to just anyone.
There are also a few more intensive treatments for stretch marks. One is called endermologie. It is a machine that was developed in France that consists of gentle rollers and suction that stretches the skin’s fibers. It increases circulation to the affected area. It is an effective treatment, but it usually requires a few sessions.
Another treatment method available is laser surgery. Laser surgery is effective, but, as with all other treatments, it does not actually remove the stretch marks; it only makes them less noticeable. Laser surgery is mostly recommended for very dark stretch marks. The lighter ones are already faded and won’t respond very much to the lasers.
