What are Streth Marks?
Stretch marks a huge problem for a lot of people, especially women, but what are they exactly? Striae, more commonly called as stretch marks, are tiny tears on the dermal layer of the skin. It used to be believed that stretch marks were caused by rapid weight gain. Now, experts are arguing that most stretch marks are either caused by heredity or an increase of glucocorticoids in the body whenever changes in the body occur. It has nothing to do with weight loss or weight gain except that during weight gain glucocorticoid levels in the body may increase.

If you have ever had stretch marks you will notice that they come in two colors, either red or silvery white. Red stretch marks, or striae rubra, are newer stretch marks. So new in fact, that the blood vessels under the torn dermal layer are still visible giving the mark its red color. After a while though the blood vessels recede and the pale fatty layer underneath comes to the surface. This gives the stretch marks a silvery white color and is referered to as striae alba.

How Effective are Stretch Mark Creams?
The most common type of treatment for stretch marks are over the counter stretch mark creams. Basically just heavy and deep penetrating moisturizers these creams promise to tighten, smoothen and reduce the appearance of stretch marks. The most common components are a deep moisturizer (i.e. shea butter, cocoa butter, olive oil etc.), some vitamins (vitamins A, C, E), minerals (Selenium, Zinc) and probably some secret ingredient like beeswax or sea weed extract or an exotic kind of seed extract that we won’t know how to pronounce.

How effective are these stretch mark creams though? Experts weigh in and declare that beyond providing your skin with maximum moisture there really isn’t much these creams can do. It can be argued though that the extra moisture may help skin become more resilient to too much stretching but that only helps if your stretch marks are actually caused by stretching-which they probably are not.

Topical Tretinoin Aka Retinoic Acid and Stretch Marks
Despite stretch mark creams’ questionable claims there is one component that could make them worth trying-TRETINOIN. Tretinoin is the carboxylic acid form of Vitamin A. Various forms of this drug is used to treat acne, keratosis and even some forms of leukemia (although not topically).

A study conducted by Kang S. et. al. administered topical tretinoin to 10 patients while 12 other patients were treated with a control. The study spanned a total of six months. In around 2 months however a marked difference in the appearance of early stretch marks could be noted in patients who were treated with 0.1% Tretinoin compared to the participants who were only treated with the control.

After six months 80% of the Tretinoin treated patients showed a marked difference in the appearance of their stretch marks.

Laser Treatment
Most of the so called stretch mark “treatments” in the market today are complete rip offs. This doesn’t mean to say though that there aren’t any viable options out there. One of the most effective ways to treat early onset and relatively old stretch marks is by undergoing laser treatment. Different kinds of laser treatments are available but the most commonly used on stretch marks is Fraxel Laser treatment. These treatments are available in either ablative or non-ablative varieties. Ablative treatments will yield results in a shorter period of time but tend to be a little bit more uncomfortable compared to non-ablative treatments. Non-ablative treatments, because of how mild it is, will require multiple sessions in a span of months before you can achieve the results that ablative treatments can produce.

With up to 75% improvement on the appearance of stretch marks, research has found that laser treatments are indeed the most recommendable treatment for stretch marks. Given that it still can remove your marks a hundred percent but 75% is a long way from unsightly marks.

If stretch marks are a problem for you, the options above should provide some comfort. For years people have just been resigned to the fact that they will have to live with their stretch marks forever. Now, there are actual treatments that have been clinically proven to improve the appearance of striae. This provides some hope for a lot of people.