I get asked a lot about stretch marks (or Striae in medical terminology) and by all types of people, both male and female. It’s a bit of a myth that stretch marks only appear during pregnancy. It’s possible to get stretch marks at any age from puberty onwards and both men and women can get them. You don’t have to be overweight to get stretch marks though they can appear during rapid weight loss or weight gain.
Stretch marks can appear anywhere on the body where the skin has been over-stretched. They can appear when the body changes during puberty or with significant changes in body shape because of activities such as body building or excessive steroid use.
Why do we get stretch marks?
If you have lower levels of a substance called collagen in your skin, you’ll be more prone to getting stretch marks, as the skin is less elastic and able to retain its shape. When the skin is stretched too far and too quickly, streaks can appear due to the connective fibres of the skin breaking apart.
Stretch marks present themselves as scar-like strands on the skin. This scarring appears at first as red or purple lines and then fade to a white or silver colour. They can also be very sensitive or itchy in the first stages and scratching them can exacerbate the issue and further irritate the skin.
Stretch marks tend to appear mostly on the abdomen, upper arms, thighs, buttocks and the breasts and can appear more prominent if you have a tan, as the stretch marks will not change colour with the rest of the skin during sun-exposure.
Treating stretch marks is something we are experts on here at Skin Perfection and we offer some effective in-clinic treatments to fade and reduce their appearance, leaving a healthier, smoother and more resilient skin tone and texture. It’s all about creating a healing response within the skin by means of collagen and elastin production.
I’m delighted to offer a full range of treatments, allowing us to put together a tailored treatment plan for each patient we see.
Stretch Mark Treatments in London at Skin Perfection
Laser skin resurfacing utilizes laser light energy to penetrate the skin and causing the healing response to take place. The top layer of skin is unharmed but the healthier skin underneath replaces it as well as collagen production happening, deep within the dermis, tightening and toning the skin. Because our laser therapy is non-ablative and encourages the skin to heal itself from within, it’s very safe, minimally-invasive and effective.
While laser light therapy is highly effective in removing stretch marks, the success of the treatment depends on how old and how visible your stretch marks are. A course of treatment can last anything from 4 to 10 treatments to get rid of the stretch marks completely.
Medical Microneedling can be used as a stand-alone treatment or as part of a four stage programme to help clear stretch marks and scarring. The treatment involves the use of a hand-held device (DermaFrac or Dermaroller, depending on the downtime you’re happy to experience). These devices hold tiny pins that pierce the skin and encourages a healing response to increase collagen and elastin production. The skin begins to heal itself over a course of treatment and you can see a marked improvement in the appearance of stretch marks after around 4 to 8 sessions.
Book a consultation today
Stretch marks won’t go away if left untreated and can even get worse if not addressed. With our expertise in treating stretch marks with highly-effective and clinically-proven device-led treatments here at our clinic in the West End of London, we can help you achieve a more smooth and toned skin appearance so you can be more confident in your skin, every day.
Contact my team to book in with my team of skin experts and take the first step towards treating your stretch marks.
