Stretch marks are well known to everyone concerned with keeping their skin clear and smooth. These marks are pronounced with different lengths and depths. They come out at different parts of our skin but principally in the abdomen, buttocks, breasts, upper arms, and legs. Weight gain and rapid growth are the usual culprits for the existence of stretch marks. 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.

Okay, so how can they be removed?

Luckily, there are options for their treatment and here listed are a few of them.

Stretch Mark Treatment Options

If you are willing to spend lots of money to solve the problem, surgery is the route to take. The stomach is where stretch marks can be removed surgically in what's called abdominoplasy surgery, or the 'tummy tuck.' Tightening and contouring the stomach walls remove excess fat and skin improving the complexion of the original stretch marks. The downside here is that it is expensive, painful, and has a long recovery time.

An additional surgical option is laser treatment. These cosmetic lasers shoot energy that is absorbed into the dermal layer of your skin and stimulates the production of new collagen. The collagen then thickens which leads to the plumping of the skin that fills in the stretch mark from below. 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.

Regarding the non-surgical route, an attractive option is microdermabrasion. There is no pain aftermath and the price tag is more down to Earth compared to surgery. It is performed in beauty spas but as well has an at home solution in the form 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.