What are stretch marks?
Stretch marks are indented streaks that often show up on places like your stomach, breasts, thighs, hips, and buttocks. This usually happens with weight gain, or pregnancy. Although they’re more common in girls, guys can get stretch marks, too. Guys and girls who are body builders are more prone to getting them because of the rapid body changes that body building can produce. Obesity can also lead to stretch marks. Stretch marks are also more likely to occur if a person uses steroid-creams or ointments on their skin for a long time (more than a few weeks).
Stretch marks actually occur throughout the entire thickness of the skin, all the way to the very deepest layers. The skin is actually deeply damaged as the very elements that give skin its flexibility are overextended. When skin is stressed and stretched the underlying collagen and elastin fibers break down. If the skin is seriously over-stretched the deep collagen fibers may actually rupture. This results in deep scars, which are seen through the intact epidermis as ‘stretch marks’.
At first, stretch marks may show up as reddish or purplish lines, but they often will turn lighter over time and usually ends up a few shades lighter than your natural skin tone. Although stretch marks can fade over time they don’t go away without treatment.
But the fact that stretch marks usually fade and become less noticeable over time can be little consolation if you plan to spend most of your summer in a bathing suit! But I am here to tell you that this can change with the right treatment and a little dedication to healthy skin care.
