The truth of stretch marks is that there is no miracle cure for stretch marks, nor can they usually be prevented. Like so much else, your susceptibility to stretch marks is primarily in your genes.
Knowing Pregnancy Stretch Marks
The technical names for stretch marks are stria atrophica and striae distensae, and they occur in the dermis, the elastic, middle layer of the skin. As the skin is stretched over time, particularly if it’s a rather short period of time, the connective fibers break, resulting in stretch marks. At first, they’re a rather bright pink or red, but gradually they fade over time to a less noticeable white or silvery hue.
While pregnancy and stretch marks are usually linked, that is not the only cause. Any time the body goes through a growth spurt, whether it’s due to pregnancy, significant weight gain, puberty or weight training, there is a chance of developing stretch marks. They can appear nearly anywhere but are most common on the abdomen, thighs, breasts and buttocks.
Stretch marks have a genetic predisposition like everything else in life. Some people can go through massive growth spurts or weight training or be pregnant with twins and not get stretch marks, while others can barely gain weight and get them.
Figures estimating that as many as 90 percent of women get stretch marks during pregnancy. It is seen that more petite women are more prone to stretch marks simply because their skin has to stretch more than that of a person who is already a little heavier.
Avoid stretch marks during pregnancy
One caution given by every doctor that no one should take dietary steps during pregnancy to avoid stretch marks. A woman should gain as much weight as her obstetrician says she should gain. Pregnant women should never try to lose or to avoid gaining weight based on not wanting to get stretch marks. Stretch marks probably can’t be avoided anyway, and anything avoiding stretch marks is potentially harmful to a healthy pregnancy. Doctors also suggests a healthy diet and plenty of water for good hydration, which is always good for the skin.
Stretch marks treatment after pregnancy
There is one treatment that does work but only if it’s started while the stretch mark is still quite new. Called V-Beam laser, it helps stimulate the dermis and increases the amount of collagen it produces. However, this only works on healthy collagen, which is found in stretch marks that are still pink.
how it works
When stretch marks first occur, they are the tell-tale pink of younger marks versus the white, burned-out, older marks. When marks are still in that young stage, they respond nicely to the V-Beam laser. The delicate beam shoots to the top layer and interacts with some of the broken blood vessels, helping to take out some of the color and stimulating the fibroblast, or the cell of the dermis. In the early state, the fibroblast is already activated, and if you can catch them while they’re active, you can significantly increase the amount of healthy collagen it produces.
but timing is everything : A 20-year-old pregnancy stretch marks no longer produces healing collagen, so there’s little chance for improvement. The good news is that stretch marks fade on their own to almost blend in with most skin types, and after 20 years they aren’t all that noticeable.
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