What are stretch marks?
Stretch marks are some of the most unsightly scars. Located on specific areas of the body, stretch marks are a woman’s worst enemy. They have a threadlike appearance and look like pink or purple streaks running across the skin in the same direction. They look similar to cracks. Once they are completely healed and are left untreated, they turn white, which is when they are particularly difficult to remove. In addition, they are on average much larger than basic scars, and are not caused by an external factor (injury).
Stretch marks are caused by abnormal stretching of the skin, which has torn the elastin fibers and collagen, the substances responsible for the skin’s firmness and elasticity. In other words, the body fails to produce enough elastic fibers and collagen to maintain the good quality of the skin when it stretches too much: an imbalance causes these cracks in the skin.
Stretch marks are located in specific areas of the body, where the skin stretches more significantly than elsewhere:
- The hips
- The buttocks
- The breasts
- The back
- The stomach
- The thighs
- The arms
The main causes of stretch marks:
Heavy weight gain: when gaining a significant amount of weight, the skin stretches in places where fat settles. Stretch marks usually appear on the stomach, buttocks, hips, thighs, arms and breasts. All these areas are particularly prone to weight gain.
Puberty in men: these types of stretch marks appear during adolescence. As the body grows rapidly, the skin expands abnormally and creates stretch marks, mainly located on the back.
Puberty in women: this type of stretch marks also appears during adolescence. As a teenage girl becomes a woman, she undergoes rapid physical changes, such as the growth of breasts, the widening of the pelvis and the formation of buttocks. As these areas grow rapidly, they can form stretch marks.
Genetics: some skin is more fragile than others and therefore more at risk of developing stretch marks. This risk can be hereditary.
How is it possible to get rid of stretch marks?
It is quite difficult and time-consuming to treat stretch marks without resorting to cosmetic medicine. It is even more complicated when the stretch marks have healed and become white. There are creams that are more or less effective for young pink/purple stretch marks that have not yet healed.
Stretch mark protocol 1: this 12-week program is for pink/purple stretch marks that have not yet healed. It includes a 3-session peel treatment to irritate the skin and encourage new skin to form. This is followed by a 12-session treatment with LED light, which relies on the benefits of infrared to repair damaged skin and thus fade stretch marks.
Stretch mark protocol 2: this 4-month program is for white stretch marks, i.e. those that have healed and are therefore more difficult to remove. It therefore offers 4 fraxel laser sessions once a month. This rather powerful laser will send impacts of fractional laser beams onto the area to be treated. The skin will peel off and leave a second skin without stretch marks.
