What are stretch marks?
It is a disorder where the thickness of the skin becomes less due to excessive stretching occurring beneath the skin.
What cause stretch marks?
Whenever there is increase in size of the muscle, or excessive deposition of fat underneath the skin, there is breakage of the collagen (which is the main support of the skin). This leads to thinning of the skin, causing stretch marks. It happens commonly during adolescence, pregnancy, sudden weight gain, rapid growth as in weight lifters. It is also seen in Diabetes, Cushing’s disease, Tuberculosis & it can induced by oral & topical steroids.
Where is it seen?
Striae appearing during adolescence are seen on the sides of the thighs, lower back in males & in females appear over buttocks, breasts & upper arms. In pregnancy, it appears over abdomen, breasts, thighs & upper arms.
How does it look like?
Initially, striae are slightly raised, purplish-red in colour, appear in a linear fashion which gradually fade to whitish irregularly linear marks, to ultimately appearing as thinned out marks. As the years pass by striae become less prominent & slowly fades away.
How to prevent Stretch marks?
Avoid putting on excessive weight. Avoid sudden gain & sudden loss of weight. During pregnancy steady weight gain is better with 10 to 12 kg gain slowly in 9 months can prevent stretch marks to some extent. Avacodo oil, Vit E oil, Aloevera cream can prevent the stretch marks during initial stages to some extent.
What are the treatment options available?
There are several treatments available, but none to cure it, all the treatment can improve the stretch marks to some extent.
Local application of Tretinoin/Tazoretene creams, Glycolic acid creams, TCA chemical peels do help in improving the appearance of stretch marks, as they help in producing new good collagen fibres.
RF microneedling– Here tiny RF microneedles are driven directly into the skin at a certain depth, and radiofrequency energy is then released inside of the skin. This gives a more uniformed deep tissue warming that will then stimulate the collagen and elastic fibres which in turn promote growth of healthier new collagen and elastic fibers. This tissue remodeling will result in smooth, firm, tighter skin and improves stretch marks
Fractional Co2 laser- Here Grid pattern of tiny pulses of light are directed at the skin through the hand piece of the machine. Each pulse delivers a column of energy with better stability that can reach different layers of skin. This stimulates a natural renewal process of the body’s own collagen. Also, because the laser beam has been fractionized, small areas of untreated skin will be left between the treated spots which accelerate the healing process.