Stretch
Marks basically look like crackles in skin (more or less as the picture
to the right), caused by the breaking down of skin's connective tissue
in deep skin layer (dermis) due to the loss of collagen and Elastin.
Although many start with red or purple raised lines (caused by micro
blood vessels breaking up and bleeding) later fade to silver shiny streaks,
some start with tiny silver lines then extend and spread to longer,
deeper and wider streaks. Some go as wide as half inch or even wider.
Many people described them as appearing out of no where just overnight.
That is because stretch marks start from the dermis the underlying skin
area (See illustration) and gradually develop to the skin surface, so
even if they seem to appear overnight, there really is a process. They
are very visible especially on darker skin. And because of the depth
and width, they are impossible to cover up with make up.
Stretch
marks happen to men and women, fat and thin, young and old. I have heard
from people who started having stretch marks since she was only 8 years
old. In most cases they don't hurt or irritate physically at all. Stretch
marks usually don't just fade on their own, instead, they tend to worsen
and expand over time. If they expand, they can literally cover your
whole body and 2 people told me that they got them on the face. - can
you imagine that?
Most people
think that stretch marks are not curable. Indeed, they are very difficult
to get rid of. For more than 10 years I could not do anything about
them other than putting lotions on and watch them spread regardless.
It was a very helpless situation. You would think with the medical achievement
that they have today, doctors should come up with some treatment already.
But that's not the case. If you go see a doctor, most of them will tell
you: just live with them, they are not curable. But why? I think they
just don't care enough, maybe in a doctor's eyes stretch marks are not
real problems. They don't really cause physical discomfort. People might
even think that you are shallow if you are bothered by them. But unless
you have them, you would not know how these zebra lines deep in skin
will make you feel.
The most
damage stretch marks do to you would be your self esteem. They make
you feel unclean; imperfect like damaged goods. Besides, they are really
not attractive to look at, so you are not shallow if you are bothered
by them. But instead being negative, you should do whatever you can
to take care of them. And they CAN be cured even eliminated if you act
now. So how to get rid of your stretch marks and start to see results
in just a few days? Click to find out.
If you haven't read my story of stretch marks yet, please go
here.
I have
received so many emails from stretch mark victims and sad stories related
with them. A good portion of them from teenagers. Some of them even
talked about suicide. If you are one of those people I would like to
hear from you and talk to you. Because there is so much more to life
than just the way you look. Besides, stretch marks can be eliminated
especially for teenagers! See Real life Stories
and before & after photos.
