Stretch marks appear on the body in many different places for a variety of reasons. Stretch marks occur when the dermis, the middle layer of your skin, is stretched to a point where its elasticity begins to break down. At this point, microscopic bleeding occurs along with tissue inflammation which gives us the raised reddish purple look of newly formed stretch marks.
As the dermis is stretched, the outer layer of skin, the epidermis, also stretches making it translucent enough that you can see the reddish purple stretch mark forming. As these marks heal, scar formation occurs, and you have a stretch mark. Over time the marks fade to a silvery white color that is a few shades lighter than your natural skin tone. The lighter color occurs because during the over stretching of the dermis, natural collagen production gets disrupted. This in turn may cause loss of skin pigment producing cells.
Some recent research has tried to link stretch mark formation to a group of steroids called glucocorticoids. The most common glucocorticoid is cortisol. Research has proven that with elevated levels of cortisol in your body, your body tends to gain weight. This is because when your body senses that it is under stress, it releases more cortisol. Things that can cause your body to stress include not only your normal every day work and life stresses, but also pregnancy, adolescent growth spurts, and weightlifting. Improper nutrition, excessive caffeine intake and smoking are additional causes of body stress.
When your body senses added stresses, it goes into a "survival mode" in order to deal with the stress. While in survival mode, your body tends to store fat more easily and a great deal faster than normal. This can lead to an extreme amount of weight gain in a short amount of time thus resulting in a stretching of your middle layer of skin causing stretch marks.
People that are most susceptible to stretch marks are pregnant women, weight lifters, and adolescents. Pregnant women get stretch marks most often during the late stages of their pregnancy when the baby is growing quickly. Over 75% of pregnant women get stretch marks on their abdomens. Other common places where stretch marks occur are the breasts, thighs and buttocks.
Weightlifters, especially men, are prone to stretch marks appearing on their upper arms and shoulder areas when large amount of muscle are built up quickly. Adolescents sometimes see the formation of stretch marks because of the tremendous amount of growth they experience during that period of time in their life. Most often, the stretch marks that appear during the adolescent years fade over time and either disappear completely or are much less noticeable than stretch marks formed later in life.
Read more about stretch marks removal creams like Trilastin and learn more aboutstretch marks on breasts.
How Can I Get Rid of Stretch Marks? Fast!
There is a bit of hope for those people struggling with the question of how to get rid of stretch marks. If you're faced with an upcoming event and need fast help then this article can give you a few tips to get through the event and look great too! Read more about how to get rid of stretch marks.
New Stretch Marks Treatment Discovered – It Was An Accident!
It isn't often that we find new treatments for stretch marks lately, but find one we did. Dr. Victoria Cirillo-Hyland "accidentally" discovered a new method for treating stretch marks while helping one of her patients with skin tone issues. Read more about her new stretch marks treatment.
Do You Know What's In Your Stretch Marks Cream?
Last month's featured article tells us about a few of the common ingredients found in many stretch mark creams and lotions on the market today. Keep reading if you want to find out more about your stretch mark cream.