Stretch marks are often the result of the rapid stretching of the skin associated with rapid growth (common in puberty) or weight gain (muscle building, bodybuilding) or in some cases, severe pulling force on skin that overcomes the dermis’s elasticity.
Before we examine a cure for stretch marks, let us talk about why you have them in the first place. Stretch marks are actually damage to the dermis (just below the top level of skin), caused by a rapid growth of the muscle or fat tissue beneath. When people think of stretch marks, they usually think of a pregnant woman’s abdominal region, but there are many more ways to get stretch marks.Women who lose a great deal of weight will suddenly find themselves with stretch marks in all kinds of places.
Because their previous weight had kept their skin stretched tight, they didn’t realize they had them – but once their body shrunk, stretch marks began to appear.Men are not immune from stretch marks. In fact, if you watch any NBA game, you will see stretch marks on many of the basketball players. Look at their shoulders, especially the more muscular players, and you will see stretch marks, reaching from their chest to their outer shoulder region. This is caused because their muscles (not their fat!) grew too fast and their skin just couldn’t keep up.There is really nothing wrong with having stretch marks, they pose no medical problem, and you won’t suffer from them – but they can be embarrassing. Any scarring to the skin is. A cure for stretch marks has always been believed to be cocoa butter, although there is no medical proof that it works. There are currently laser treatments that claim to reverse the damage of stretch marks, but they don’t work all the time. There are many types of creams and ointments that also claim to reduce the appearance of stretch marks, and some of these do work, over time.
The best cure for stretch marks is to avoid getting them in the first place! Of course, that is not always possible, but by continual moisturizing of the skin during a time of growth – whether it is muscular growth, fat growth, or stretching due to pregnancy – will help the skin to bounce back from being stretched.
