Stretch Marks Treatment | Choicy Beauty- a beauty training academy

What are Stretch Marks?

Stretch marks are long, narrow streaks, stripes, or lines that develop on the skin. They occur when the skin is suddenly stretched and are extremely common.

Anyone can develop stretch marks, although they tend to affect more women than men.

They can occur on a range of body parts, including the stomach, thighs, hips, breasts, upper arms, and lower back.

This type of scarring happens when the skin cannot resume normal form after a period of intense growth, often due to pregnancy, weight gain, weight loss, or puberty. Over 50 percent of women experience stretch marks during pregnancy.the beauty industry.

Stretch marks are not physically dangerous but can cause problems with self-image and anxiety. For some people, stretch marks are a significant cosmetic concern that can affect day-to-day living.

Signs and symptoms

Before stretch marks begin to emerge, the skin can appear thin and pink. It may also feel irritated or itchy.

The marks initially develop as wrinkly, raised streaks that can be red, purple, pink, reddish-brown or dark brown, depending on skin color. The streaks eventually fade and flatten and tend to change to a silvery color over time.

Stretch marks may gradually become less noticeable, but this can often take years.

What Causes Stretch Marks?

Extreme skin growth or shrinkage can cause stretch marks.

Common causes of skin stretching include:

Pregnancy: Between 50 and 90 percent of women who are pregnant experience stretchmarks during or after birth.

Puberty: Rapid growth is typical in young people going through puberty. This can lead to stretch marks.

Rapid weight gain: Putting on a lot of weight in a short space of time can cause stretch marks.

Medical conditions: Certain conditions can cause stretch marks, such as Marfan syndrome and Cushing's syndrome. Marfan syndrome can lead to decreased elasticity in the skin tissue, and Cushing's syndrome can lead the body to produce too much of a hormone that leads to rapid weight gain and skin fragility.

Corticosteroid use: Prolonged use of corticosteroid creams and lotions can decrease levels of collagen in the skin. Collagen strengthens and supports the skin, and a reduced amount can increase the risk of stretch marks.

The skin consists of three key layers. Stretch marks form in the dermis, or middle layer, when the connective tissue is stretched beyond the limits of its elasticity. This is normally due to rapid expansion or contraction of the skin.

As the body grows, the connecting fibers in the dermis slowly stretch to accommodate slow growth. However, rapid growth leads to sudden stretching. This causes the dermis to tear, allowing deeper layers of skin to show through.

This can form stretch marks and contributes to the way they look.

Stretch marks eventually fade to a silvery, white, or glossy appearance, due to the pale fat beneath the skin becoming visible instead of the usual blood vessels.

They are more likely to develop and become more severe where there are high levels of circulating cortisone, or when cortisone is applied to the skin. Cortisol, the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands, is converted into cortisone. This weakens elastic fibers in the skin.

Risk factors

A number of risk factors have been associated with the development of stretch marks, but the evidence varies. More research is needed to confirm the causes of stretch marks.

The risk factors for developing stretch marks could be linked to:

1. family history

2. chronic diseases

3. body mass index (BMI) before pregnancy

4. birthweight of the child in women who are pregnant

These findings can be explained by the greater degrees of skin stretching in obese women with larger babies, and by age-related changes in skin collagen and connective tissue that affect the likelihood of tearing.

How to Treat Stretch Marks?

The main point of stretch marks treatment is to stimulate and repair damaged dermis collagen fibers. In the treatment, comprehensive treatment should be considered based on various factors such as the patient's skin condition, time, location, age, and treatment season. Professional Aesthetic Equipment can be helped without doubt.

1. Vitamin A drugs and foods (ointment or oral)

Vitamin A is a necessary raw material for skin tissue differentiation and can stimulate skin dermal regeneration and increase the elasticity of collagen fibers. Vitamin A drugs mainly act on the newly formed stretch marks. However, we all know that vitamin A is highly irritant and it is absolutely forbidden to use it during pregnancy and plan to be pregnant! Carrots, and animals liver contain more vitamin A.

2. DPL or IPL

DPL lasers are long-pulse lasers with wavelength at 585-595nm, very strong on skin irritation, can close blood vessels, inhibit scar hyperplasia. If do treatment as soon as possible after birth, then it can effectively inhibit stretch marks. However, for the long-term stretch marks, it is not very effective and may cause skin burns. If there is no DPL (general beauty salons and hospitals do not have such equipment), then within one month after birth, it is necessary to start interfering with 560nm, preferably 580nm IPL.

3. CO2 Fractional Laser, 1927nm fractional laser and other long-pulsed infrared laser

The role of these lasers is to destroy the skin scar tissue that has already formed and to stimulate the regeneration of the skin. It can be a more effective treatment for long-term stretch marks. Since the CO2 laser also has a cutter head mode and scan mode, it can finely repair stretch marks, and the effect is better.

4. RF microneedles

Microneedles are a minimally invasive penetrating type therapy. The principle is similar to that of CO2 lasers. A short-term heating stimulus after radiofrequency microneedles enter the skin, it is more effective for the proliferation of surrounding tissues.

5. Microdermabrasion

The principle is the same as above, the depth of dermabrasion should reach the superficial dermis, that is, at least reach the papillary layer, oozing blood slightly, and then stimulate the collagen fiber to rebuild and proliferate. All three treatments can work on the long-term and aging stretch marks.

6. For color changes, some stretch marks are whitish, you can use IPL480 and other short-wavelength blue-violet treatment to stimulate the proliferation of pigment; if it is black, then use some of the pigment blocking products or drugs, acid and so on for continuous treatment.

7. Assisted repair products and drugs

Stretch marks under the above stimulation, skin will damage, stimulate proliferation, in each treatment interval requires to a large number of repair products to stimulate and prevent pigmentation. Especially after the treatment of stretch marks, it is easy to be troubled by clothes friction, summer sweating and other problems, so in the treatment, the composite repair factor (aFGF, bFGF, EGF, KGF), sodium hyaluronate (hyaluronic acid), type III + type I collagen, must continue to use. In addition, antibiotics and the necessary weaker hormones must be taken into consideration when fighting inflammation and preventing infection. After applying these drugs, the outer layer should also be coated with enough ceramides, vitamin E and other oils to lock in water and prevent allergic itching.

Daily intervention and prognosis

In the first week after laser treatment, it is necessary to intervene from life (without belt), avoid strenuous exercise, accelerate wound healing, reduce the probability of infection and inflammation, and prepare for the next treatment.

Any of the above methods requires multiple treatments and courses, and it is difficult to say that it will definitely guarantee the complete cure of stretch marks. The treatment and customer's cooperation is very important, especially the treatment time and courses are relatively long, of course, the cost is also relatively high.

Prevention

1. Stretch marks cannot always be prevented. However, the following steps may help to reduce the risk:

2. Maintain a healthy weight.

3. Avoid yo-yo dieting.

4. Eat a balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals. Consuming a suitable amount of vitamins A and C can help support the skin, as well as the minerals zinc and silicon.

5. Aim for slow and gradual weight gain during pregnancy.

6. Drink six to eight glasses of water every day.