Stretch marks (striae) can be caused by overextension and stretching of the skin. It therefore tends to be common to occur at times when the body shape is changing rapidly such a during pregnancy, puberty/adolescence, periods of weight gain or extreme loss and bodybuilding. They can be found on both men and women but are around 2 x more likely to occur on women. There is little evidence for avoidance other than well moisturised skin and there may be a genetic element to the formation and severity of stretch marks. Stretch marks tend to start as red striped discolouration and then progress to sunken white scar like marks.

What causes stretch marks?

When your skin rapidly stretches or shrinks, it causes the elastin and collagen in your skin to break. The main role of elastin is to allow your skin to stretch. The main role of collagen is to provide structure, strength and support to your skin. As your skin heals, stretch marks appear in areas where the elastin breaks.

Treatment Options

SkinPen microneedling is a fantastic option to help improve the appearance of stretch marks. It does this by:

• Promoting removal of old, damaged collagen and elastin.
• Induces keratinocytes proliferation that releases growth factors to promote collagen deposition by the fibroblasts and elastin deposition.
• Modulates the expression of several genes in the skin (vascular endothelial growth factor, fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor, collagen type I and III) that promote extracellular matrix remodelling.

If you would like to find out more about our Stretch Mark treatment options, please call us on 01296 614 441, and book a Free Consultation.