Stretch Marksby Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger 02 Jul 2009 07:12 PM Your skin is pretty elastic. In many circumstances, your skin can bounce back relatively well from cuts, bruises, scars, or stretching. But when the skin is constantly or too quickly stretched, you may end up with stretch marks. Weight gain and pregnancy are two of the top causes for stretch marks. The dermis -- the stretchy middle layer of skin -- is where stretch marks occur. At first, stretch marks may appear red or purple in color. With time, they will fade to a pale shade of pink, white, or silver. Stretch marks are most often seen on the stomach, hips and thighs, breasts, upper arms, and lower back. Bad news: most over the counter creams and lotions for stretch mark reduction don't do much. You'll have an easier time covering up stretch marks (like with self-tanner) than you will healing them. Think of them like scars. Stuff like vitamin E, vitamin A, aloe vera, and moisturizers can help heal or reduce the damage, but may not be able to erase stretch marks entirely. You may not notice a difference at all! If your stretch marks are really a bother, you may have to turn to more powerful methods. Microdermabrasion, chemical peels, and laser surgery can help take care of stretch marks. The success of the procedure will depend on your age, skin tone, diet, and many other factors -- so don't expect a miracle cure. You could even go so far as plastic surgery, especially in cases where rapid or major weight loss has left you with extra skin hanging around. Your best bet is avoiding them entirely -- but that's easier said than done. The changes in our bodies during puberty can leave the skin with stretch marks! But stretch marks from weight gain can be avoided by maintaining a stable weight. (Again, easier said than done, right?) I'd like a time machine, so I can go back and prevent myself from gaining weight! Quick, somebody invent that for me! Learn more about Aimee Amodio  Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover... Relevanthealth tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags skin, stretch marks, scars Discuss this article
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