They are also known as ‘striae’ and technically are a form of scarring, characterised as streaking/lines across the surface of the skin; forming a common shape associated with tiger stripes. When they first they are usually red or purple and then fade to silvery white over time.
This condition is commonly associated with pregnancy and while around 80% of women will develop them while pregnant, the actual stretch marks can also be a result of growth spurts during puberty, rapid muscle growth and extreme weight fluctuation.
As the skin is forced to rapidly grow at a faster rate it causes the collagen to become damaged in the deeper layers of your skin and tears away from itself. The tear results in a breakdown of supporting tissue and after time as the skin recovers it leaves a tear like white scar underneath your skin.
Stretch marks are most common across the abdomen, hips, breasts, thighs and buttocks, but they may also appear on the back, shoulders, upper arms and sometimes even on the face.
To treat this condition, I use a retinol-based home care system alongside my bespoke micro-needling procedure to stimulate the wound healing response by producing new collagen which repairs the damaged tissue fibres.
