Stretch marks are off-colored scars on the skin. They can form for a variety of reasons, such as pregnancy, erratic body growth, puberty, weight gain, muscle growth from weightlifting, or even side effects of certain medications. In the beginning, stretch marks appear as a red or purple color. But as time goes on, the color fades into more of a white and silvery color. That is the color you’re stuck with permanently.

The most common areas on your body where you will experience stretch marks are your buttocks, thighs, breasts, stomach, upper arms, and shoulders. The exact location will depend on the situation that caused you to get the stretch marks. For instance, pregnant women end up with stretch marks on their tummy area for obvious reasons. People who are obese will experience stretch marks in virtually every area of their body because the fat stretches all their skin.

As you can see, it is very difficult to avoid getting stretch marks because they’re going to form on the skin at some point in your life. The best thing you can do is deal with the aftermath of the stretch marks. You can either learn to live with the cosmetic abnormalities they cause your skin, or you can try to reduce or eliminate the appearance of the stretch marks altogether.

The average drug store sells over-the-counter skin creams which are supposed to reduce the abnormal color of the stretch marks. However, these creams do very little to reduce stretch marks that have been there for a long time. Unless a professional stretch mark removal procedure is done, you will be forced to live with those stretch marks for the rest of your life. In fact, the stretch marks may even get worse as you continue to age and experience situations which stimulate the intensity of your stretch marks.

Laser Therapy

When it comes to stretch mark removal, no other treatment method is better or more effective than laser therapy. One thing you will love instantly about laser therapy is that no surgery or invasive procedures are involved. This is a totally non-invasive procedure which utilizes the power of laser light pulses to remove the abnormalities of your stretch-marked skin.

In many cases, patients only need a few laser therapy treatment sessions to smooth out their stretch marks and restore the skin’s natural vibrant appearance. Each treatment session is quick and should be over within roughly 30 minutes. The cosmetic practitioner will direct a beam of pulsating light at the affected areas of your skin. The damaged skin layers are then extracted and removed.

The laser light is a high energy UV light which is produced by a special laser machine. This UV light energy targets the affected skin tissues and disturbs their molecular bonds in order to restore the skin. The disintegration of the skin tissues from this procedure is called ablation. Once the damaged skin layers are removed, you simply need to let your skin heal so that new healthy layers can take their place. These are layers that’ll look like ordinary skin as opposed to stretch-marked skin.

As previously stated, the age of your stretch marks plays a role in their intensity. The longer you’ve had your stretch marks, the more laser treatment sessions you will need to remove them. If you’ve had your stretch marks for decades, then it may require as many as 10 treatment sessions to remove them.

Skin Surgery

Laser therapy does not have any guarantees of completely removing stretch marks. In severe cases, the stretch marks will only have less visibility rather than no visibility at all. But if you’re determined to remove all traces of your stretch marks, then skin surgery is a permanent solution to the problem.

Abdominoplasty is the name of the skin surgery designed to remove excess skin on the tummy. If you have stretch marks on your tummy or pubic areas, then abdominoplasty can help remove them. However, it only targets the stretch marks under your belly and not the ones on your abdomen. Keep that in mind.

A lot more recovery time will be needed after a skin surgical procedure. There are some risks involved with this procedure, so make sure you choose a certified cosmetic surgeon who has advanced experience in conducting tummy tuck surgeries.

Other Methods of Stretch Marks Removal

Clinical peels have been proven effective at removing stretch marks in certain cases. Peels are more commonly used to remove age spots and wrinkles of the face, but they may eliminate stretch marks too. If the top layers of your skin are damaged, then regenerating them with peels is the best way to go. The doctor may use phenol, glycolic acid, or alpha-hydroxy acid as the chemical solution of the peel.

Clinical peels have been proven effective at removing stretch marks in certain cases. Peels are more commonly used to remove age spots and wrinkles of the face, but they may eliminate stretch marks too. If the top layers of your skin are damaged, then regenerating them with peels is the best way to go. The doctor may use phenol, glycolic acid, or alpha-hydroxy acid as the chemical solution of the peel.