Hi friends, I will give you complete information about stretch marks and their treatment.
What are Stretch Marks
First of all, what are stretch marks? These are a type of scar formed when the skin rapidly shrinks or grows in the area. This rapid change in skin surface area causes the supporting elastic tissues inside the skin, called Collagen Tissues, to break due to the stress.
When the skin finally heals, stretch marks are left behind, much like scar tissue is left behind after a wound or cut. These are called stretch marks.
These are usually found on the belly area, under and around the breast area, around the shoulders, and on/around the buttocks and thighs.
The points that I will tell you in this video are very practical. Being cautious can help you prevent getting stretch marks on your skin quite easily.
Causes of Stretch Marks
So, firstly, let’s talk about why stretch marks are formed. Stretch marks are formed on dry skin much faster, and the biggest cause is applying a lot of soap on your body daily while having a bath.
While doing this, you do not think that if you rub your skin with soap like this daily, the natural oil and moisture from your skin, which naturally protects the skin, is washed off with soap and water.
Then, people purchase expensive moisturizers available in the market and apply them to their hands, feet, and face. However, the shoulders, belly, and back are usually left out of this moisturizing routine.
The net result is that most of the skin is left dry and thus gets stretched and pulled easily due to even minor weight fluctuations, thus leading to stretch marks.
I have mentioned in many of my videos that if you are not working outdoors in dusty/dirty conditions every day and neither do you sweat much throughout the day, then only the private parts, underarms, and neck should be soaped lightly while bathing.
The entire body should NOT be soaped fully every day. Clean, plain water is the best cleanser, and it does not rid our skin of its natural oils and moisture. Bathing with plain water keeps the skin soft, prevents it from drying out, and keeps it safe from infections and allergies.
The other major reason for the formation of stretch marks nowadays is that people want to either reduce or gain weight very fast today.
For example, suppose someone will get married or has to attend a significant function. In that case, people go on a crash diet to fit into beautiful high-fashion clothes.
To lose 4-5 kilos of weight in a week or two, they exclusively go on a low-calorie diet, like vegetable juices. Going on a crash diet certainly reduces your weight. Still, the short period and rapid weight loss make the skin very loose; thus, the skin’s collagen tissues break.
So stretch marks naturally form as a result. Besides stretch marks, going on crash diets ruins the body’s hormonal balance, leading to hair loss and anaemia in some cases.
Similarly, many young men take food supplements to gain muscle mass quickly. Many of these protein supplements also contain steroid and growth hormones, which cause the muscles to gain in size rapidly, thus causing the skin to stretch rapidly. Therefore, stretch marks form over the shoulders, chest, and thighs.
This can happen either due to illness or careless use of food supplements or steroid creams, especially when steroid creams are misused as “Fairness Creams” to get fair skin quickly. Those people who use steroid creams for an extended period as fairness creams often even develop stretch marks on their faces.
Stretch Marks Treatment
If you already suffer from stretch marks, I will tell you how to treat and eliminate them. First of all, some precautions to be taken – If you are pregnant, then from the beginning of the pregnancy, you must massage your belly skin 3 times daily with either coconut oil or some other good moisturizer.
The oil/moisturizer keeps the skin soft, and massaging the skin lightly keeps the blood flowing well, thus making the elastic tissues strong and not breaking easily when the skin is stretched.
Likewise, you’re working on growing your muscles. In that case, having wholesome and nourishing meals and engaging in effective workouts is important. You must also keep the skin moisturized, allowing the body to gain weight gradually and naturally.
Types of Stretch Marks
Stretch marks are of two kinds: Red Stretch marks, which are freshly formed, and White Stretch Marks, which are older. Red Stretch marks are often formed during pregnancy and often itchy as well, but if you massage these marks with coconut, castor, or olive oil.
These red stretch marks will gradually heal 3-4 times daily, even if you use a Hyaluronic acid-enriched moisturizer 3-4 times daily.
If you are pregnant or a nursing mother, you must NOT use any Retinoic Acid or Retinol cream/gel to treat your stretch marks. Because this can cause harm to your child.
If you are not pregnant and not breastfeeding your child either and not planning to get pregnant for at least 2 years, then you can use retinoic acid cream, gel, or serum in a 0.05% concentration, daily or alternate days applying it twice in the day on the stretch marks.
If you keep up this treatment for at least 6 months, then red and white stretch marks can be lightened or reduced considerably.
Use of Derma Roller
The next treatment method is to use a Dermaroller on the stretch marks. This treatment can be done at home as well. A 0.5mm needle-length derma roller is the most suitable for this.
Microneedling & Dermabrasion
The third method of treatment is microneedling and dermabrasion. Using either of these procedures on stretch marks increases the collagen production in the skin, thus healing and filling up the stretch marks. These procedures can be done in any good skin care clinic.
Laser Therapy
The next method of healing stretch marks is Light Laser Therapy, done via Red Light Laser Therapy. You can also opt for treatment using the Icon 1540 Fractional Laser.
Both processes make the skin smooth. If these procedures are done 2-3 times, there is a 20-60% improvement in stretch marks, depending on their severity.
All the procedures that I have described so far lead to an improvement in stretch marks. Now whichever procedure is the most suitable for you has to be decided by you only.
One thing to keep in mind is that you must never apply soap on your stretch marks. Otherwise, the skin dries, and the marks become worse. And no matter what procedure, you must always keep the skin soft and well moisturized.
