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Stretch marks are well known to everyone concerned with keeping their skin clear and smooth. They show up resembling zebra like scars that vary in length and depth. They come out at different parts of our skin but principally in the abdomen, buttocks, breasts, upper arms, and legs. The cause of these unwanted marks is mainly the result of rapid stretching of the skin resulting from rapid growth or weight gain usually caused by puberty, pregnancy, and weight gain. The skin has a middle layer named the dermis, and after being stretched to a certain point, its elasticity breaks down which causes the stretch mark to appear.

Question is, what can be done about them?

Fortunately, there are options to choose from.

Stretch Mark Treatment Options

The least economical route to take is surgery. The stomach is where stretch marks can be removed surgically in what's called abdominoplasy surgery, or the 'tummy tuck.' It improves the appearance of the stretch marks by tightening and contouring the stomach walls which removes excess fat and skin. The downside here is that it is expensive, painful, and has a long recovery time.

An additional surgical option is laser treatment. The objective of this treatment is to produce new collagen in the skin by shooting cosmetic lasers into the dermal layer. The stretch marks are filled in from below from the skin plumping itself due to the thickening of this new collagen. The downside to laser treatment is that it is only mainly effective on immature stretch marks that are still red in color.

At best a 20 to 50% improvement using these surgical procedures is the most likely result from what would be successive trips to the doctor's office on top of shelling out a few thousand dollars.

If you automatically want to cancel out surgery, a great and effective alternative is microdermabrasion. One can have it done at a beauty spa or use the at home method of a microdermabrasion cream. It works by eliminating the top layer of the skin by using abrading microcrytals to wear it down. This in turn creates a newer and healthier skin to replace the old and damaged one. It also makes your skin more resilient by triggering collagen and elastin production.