We live in an era where image is just so important. It’s no use shirking this fact, it is simply true in modern society, and our self-image is of vital importance to our own self worth, confidence and self-esteem.
If you suffer from ugly stretch marks, you know just how devastating they can be to someone’s self-image. They seem to pop up just at the times in life when self-image even more of a concern than usual, such as during pregnancy, adolescence, when losing or gaining weight, or when experiencing hormonal changes.
Stretch Marks are a consequence of skin expanding too rapidly for the dermis to repair itself, which explains why the most common sufferers are pregnant ladies. The tiny fibres of skin are unable to knit themselves back together, and so scarring occurs.
The only way to truly remove stretch marks is to promote collagen and elastin in the skin, which are the chemical that allow the skin to stretch and move without tearing or scarring. There are two methods that propose to do this, topical treatments (creams and salves) and surgery (peels, lasers, tucks).
Laser surgery is a relic of the past, and it simply does not remove stretch marks. Lasers and peels remove outer layers of skin to ‘hide’ marks, but they cannot cause the tissue to heal itself, despite what they advertise. It’s expensive, painful and dangerous, and not worth the time or effort. Tucks can work if the scarring is on your stomach, but this can also cause scarring and so may be replacing one problem with another.
There are a few topical treatments available now that may be able to reduce the appearance of stretch marks. After some scientific study into the cause and remedy for this scarring, it has been determined that the replacement of collagen and elastin in the skin can reduce the severity of scarring and stretch marks. If you are considering a topical treatment, be sure to get one that contains these chemicals or promotes their production in the skin, as the other products are simply moisturisers or contain nothing effective at all.
