Your Exclusive Guide to Stretch Marks

Simple Truths about Stretch Marks

The glow of pregnancy has ended and you are now a full-time parent, or perhaps it’s just the middle of your pregnancy and you are noticing lots of changes. Maybe you are not even pregnant at all but on a weight loss journey or experiencing physical growth, such as the teen years. In all such instances, you might take a look at your belly, hips or other areas of the body and notice “stretch marks”. You may now find yourself wondering how to get rid of stretch marks?

The stretch mark is actually a scar caused by rapid changes in the skin – either when it shrinks quickly or stretches abruptly. Fast changes of this kind to the skin often happen before the skin can produce enough elastin and collagen to support the tissue. This leads these connective materials to rupture and create stretch marks.

They can be “angry” in appearance, and show up as purple and red welt-like lines or they manifest as discolorations that are a shade darker or lighter than our natural skin’s typical color. Their appearance, as one expert notes, may “be red, purple, pink, reddish-brown, or dark brown, depending on your skin color. Early stretch marks may feel slightly raised and can be itchy.”

Yet, no matter what they look like, few of us are thrilled to find them anywhere on the body. And though their “color fades and the narrow bands sink beneath your skin. If you run your finger over a mature stretch mark, you often feel a slight depression.” This is because, as noted, they are scars, and as Mayo Clinic explains, “Treatment can make stretch marks fade, but it won’t completely remove them.”

Related: Cellulite and Fascia – The Connection…OR the Myth?

Can they be avoided?

In a word…Maybe. This is because they are caused by so many different issues – pregnancy, obesity, rapid weight loss, low body fat combined with muscle building, growth spurts during puberty, breast implant surgery, steroid use, genetics…all of them can lead to stretchmarks. And though they are possible in both genders, one of the biggest risk factors is simply being female.

According to an article in Cosmopolitan, “Between 50 to 90 percent of women have stretch marks, according to findings from the University of Michigan Health System.” And though common, most of us are self-conscious about them, especially if they appear in difficult to conceal areas like the upper arm, thighs

And while you might hear that it is possible to prevent them during certain situations, such as maintaining a steady weight during pregnancy, you cannot contain the growth of the baby. You may be unable to prevent abdominal stretch marks simply because the baby’s body size grows quickly.

However, many medical experts agree that “products containing centella or hyaluronic acid may help prevent stretch marks. Centella is an herb, and our skin naturally contains hyaluronic acid.”

It is worth applying such compounds if you are expecting a baby and hope to avoid the formation of the angriest or most noticeable stretch marks.

That leaves us with one question: If you cannot usually avoid them entirely, then tell me how to get rid of stretch marks after they appear?!?

As one medical group has said, “Getting rid of stretch marks in a completely natural way isn’t likely. They’re a type of scarring that rarely fades enough to become invisible. However, there are some remedies that can help minimize the appearance of stretch marks and help them to fade more quickly.”

How to Get Rid of Stretch Marks: The At-Home Edition

What can you do to start to remedy your stretch mark situation? The DIY and/or at-home remedies include:

• Hyaluronic acid – Don’t panic at the word “acid”. HA is made by your body and is similar to collagen in that it is a protein/enzyme that helps your skin retain its elasticity and shape. Aging reduces natural levels of both collagen and HA, and we start to see lines and wrinkles. However, topical HA also attracts up to 1000% its weight in water, helping to heal and soothe damaged skin. So, feel free to take oral HA supplements as well as using topical treatments of pure HA to begin reducing the signs of stretch marks and restoring skin’s elasticity and tone.
• Topical vitamin A and/or retinoids – Retinoids are in wide use as a form of anti-aging treatment for the skin. They smooth it and improve its texture. Vitamin A is one of them and you can supplement with it as well as using topical treatments high in vitamin A and retinoids.
• Aloe vera – Aloe vera is nature’s ultimate skin softener, as well as being cooling and soothing. Investing in a few potted plants or a bottle of all natural aloe vera is a good way to alleviate any itchiness that your stretch marks have caused. Applying it at a time when you fear you might develop stretch marks can reduce the damage, and using it afterward will help with healing and smoothing the skin. It works best if applied after a hot shower.

• Coconut oil – Many pregnant women swear by cocoa butter on their growing bumps, but coconut oil is just as beneficial. It protects the skin from scarring and damage while also helping the skin to heal very quickly. Apply it at bedtime to any sort of stretch marks (just after a warm bath or shower is best) and the warmth of your bed will help it work its magic on your skin.
• Natural microdermabrasion – Exfoliating is a process that removes the outermost layer of the skin, usually most comprised of dead skin cells. This triggers deeper layers of the skin to produce newer and healthier cells. If you want to do a low-cost, at-home microdermabrasion treatment, you can use a “sugar scrub”. Just take ¼ cup of almond oil and 1 cup of sugar, mixing it to a sandy texture. Add the juice of half a lemon and begin scrubbing this on the areas where stretch marks appear. You may need to make a larger batch if you have larger areas of skin with scarring. Do this for eight to ten minutes while in the shower, and in just a few weeks you should see your scars fading.
• Avoid tanning – One of the best things you can do to lessen the appearance of stretch marks is to avoid tanning the skin around them. This means that sunscreen is your best friend after your skin has suffered stretch marks. The scars do not tan, and so darkening the skin around them actually makes them more noticeable. Because this is damaged skin it is also more vulnerable to such issues as UV damage and skin cancer. UV rays also reduce the collagen fibers, meaning the stretch marks may worsen or stretch more!

Related: The Essential Guide to Self Tanners and Sunscreen

• Self tanner – On the other hand, a self tanner does color stretch marks to the same shade as the rest of the skin. It can make them less noticeable, but won’t erase them.
• Massage – When done with a healing oil, it may stimulate blood flow, collagen production and healing. This can reduce the looks of the stretch marks, but only if done gently and without any friction on the skin, which can worsen the marks.
• Exercise – If you improve muscle tone, you also tighten skin. Strengthen muscles in the area where the marks are the worst and you may see your skin shrinking and tightening, too. This can reduce the looks of the marks substantially.

What you can take from this is simple: You will not be able to eliminate the scarring or stretch marks with any DIY or over the counter treatment. These can, and do, improve the supple quality of the skin and may even help to fade some stretch marks by healing and reducing swelling.

If your goal is to reduce them to the greatest extent possible, it is a medical professional who will have the best choices.

How to Get Rid of Stretch Marks: The Professional Edition

And what can the experts do that you won’t be able to manage at home? The most common treatments performed by dermatologists and plastic surgeons include:

• “Chemical peels
• Laser therapies
• Microdermabrasion treatments
• Radiofrequency treatments
• Ultrasound treatments”

Pulsed dye laser therapy is also used along with fractional CO2 laser treatments.

Yet, as experts would note, these experts use the “procedures to make stretch marks less noticeable, but none of these can get rid of stretch marks”, either. In fact, if you want to completely erase them, your medical provider may do more than one of the treatments above. For instance, they may pair laser therapy with a radiofrequency treatment.

Are there more common or effective measures? One expert indicated that professional “microdermabrasion involves exfoliating the skin in a way that at-home remedies cannot. Research has shown that microdermabrasion improved the appearance of stretch marks.”

And it is those last words that we need to emphasize again – improve the appearance of stretch marks.

Today, there are not yet treatments that can erase them entirely. So, let’s consider the major treatment options and you can speak with your dermatologist or plastic surgeon if you want to give one or more of them a try. Remember, too, that they will be able to assess your skin and offer a better suggestion based on your needs.

Lasers and Micro-Needling Explained

Micro-needling is a less expensive option than laser treatments, and it is done by an expert who creates “tiny punctures in the skin using micro-fine needles (from 0.5 to 2 millimeters in diameter). This act then triggers the body’s wound healing process (similar to how the above laser works), stimulating collagen and elastin production.”

The downsides include the fact that it is a bit invasive, requires multiple sessions (around four months at minimum) and asks you to be very patient.

Laser therapies vary widely, but all are “light therapy”. Pulsed dye lasers use intense pulses of light that trigger collagen and elastin production. However, they are best when used on new stretch marks, and should be avoided by anyone with a darker complexion as this might discolor undamaged skin.

Fractional CO2 laser therapies work well to smooth out older marks, and when combined with topical treatments, such as the popular tretinoin or glycolic acid treatments seem to offer good outcomes over a few sessions.

Radio frequency treatments heat the area beneath the skin, causing the lower layer of skin to send out a lot of collagen and plump up the skin from beneath. This is a good option for someone with darker skin as there are no risks for discoloration.

There are other laser treatments that work by “tricking your cells into thinking they’re injured. This causes your body’s natural healing process to kick in, triggering your cells to release all the chemicals they need to create new collagen in that area. This process eventually improves the appearance of your stretch marks.” There is one FDA approved laser treatment of this kind, specifically designed for stretch marks. It is the ICON 1540, and it may be a good solution for those who want to reduce the signs of stretch marks to the greatest degree possible.

You may also consider plastic surgery such as a tummy tuck that can remove the skin marked by the scars. Not everyone is a candidate for this surgery and the costs are not covered by insurance providers. Keep in mind that this may not erase all of the marks and does require a lot of downtime afterward.

General Tips for Dealing with Stretch Marks

You now have some solutions to try at home, and as you consider the options, don’t forget that your dermatologist, esthetician or plastic surgeon will want to review some basic issues before offering treatment. For instance, they need to know how old the scarring is, what sort of costs you are able to deal with and what your expectations of the treatment might be. All of these factors play a role in what a medical expert can do or offer.

While stretch marks are not the best thing in the world, they should not make anyone feel less comfortable or attractive. They are a sign of changes in the body and often appear after something positive like the birth of a baby, weight loss or a growth spurt – all things to celebrate.

Related: How to Avoid That Unwanted Weight Gain

More Great Resources on How to Get Rid of Stretch Marks

Home Remedies for Stretch Marks: 5 Ingredients to Try

Best Stretch Marks Removal Treatments Ever

Let’s Talk Stretch Marks