Stretch mark removal treatment options

Stretch marks (also known as striae) are linear, narrow streaks, stripes, lines or marks on the skin that may be pink, purple, brown or white.  They occur when skin stretches or grows rapidly in one area, causing damage to the collagen and elastin fibres and resulting in a scar.  They are extremely common. Stretch marks commonly occur on the stomach and upper thighs, but can also happen to breasts/upper arms/lower back/buttocks.

Stretch marks occur due to rapid stretching of the skin which damages the middle layer of skin called the dermis.  As the body grows, the connecting fibres in the dermis slowly stretch to accommodate slow growth. However, rapid growth leads to sudden stretching.  When the connective tissue in this layer is stretched beyond the limits of its elasticity damage can occur causing the skin to become thin and shiny in sections or strips.  

-Growing children and teenagers

-People who experience rapid weight gain

-Pregnant women

-People on certain medications including steroids / cortisones

-People with certain medical conditions including Cushing’s syndrome and Marfan’s syndrome

-Women more than men

If you are genetically prone to stretch marks you may not be able to prevent them, particularly if they are linked to childhood growth or pregnancy.  You can to some degree prevent your tendency to developing stretch marks by:

-not smoking

-not rapidly gaining weight or having a BMI >30, avoid yo-yo dieting

-using cosmeceutical skincare to best prepare your skin for times of growth eg. Puberty or pregnancy.

All stretch marks are caused by similar changes in the skin.  Stretchmarks can however have an initial pink / purple discolouration, and later change to a shiny white or brown.  This distinction can affect the stretch mark removal treatment choices, as pink or brown stretch marks may benefit from particular types of laser treatments that address vascular or pigmentation chromophores in the skin. White stretch marks are best treated with skin needling or ACUPULSE fractional laser.

Stretch marks usually fade very slowly over time, often changing from pink to white.  They tend not to disappear without treatment.

SKINCARE: There is plenty of debate about whether or not stretch mark creams and lotions actually work. There’s an abundance of products on the market that promise to smooth, lock in moisture and boost elasticity. So how do you know what products are worth trying and what products you shouldn’t bother with?

It’s important to know that while skin care products can help reduce the appearance of stretch marks regular treatments here in clinic are much more beneficial for stretch mark removal.

Any cosmeceutical containing Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin E will give you the best chance of reducing the appearance of them.

SKIN NEEDLING: Skin needling is a non-invasive treatment that uses microscopic needles to penetrate the skin within the epidermis and dermis. At Geelong Veins Skin and Laser we use the Dermapen 4.  It’s an advanced micro needling device with 16 fine needles on the very tip. As we glide the pen over the surface of the skin it oscillates (goes up and down) 120 times per second making up to 1,920 micro channels (tiny puncture wounds) in the skin. The body treats these micro channels as a wound, naturally initiating the healing process that stimulates the regeneration of collagen and elastin in the skin.