WHAT CAUSES STRETCH MARKS?
Stretch marks occur when your skin is stretched for
a long period of time, and happens either by rapidly gaining or losing
weight. Once the fibers in the skin are pulled or
“stretched” to their maximum levels, they cause scars.
While men are less prone to these unsightly lines it is not unusual for
guys to get them.
What’s worse is that men can wear boxers and clothes that hide
them, whereas most women will get some degree of stretch marks in their
lifetime that are far more difficult to conceal. Let me tell you the
reason: 70 per cent of teenage girls get stretch marks and more than 90
per cent of pregnant women get them.
The reason for this is that teenage girls suffer through fast growth
spurts as they go through puberty. Think about it; they suffer through
the fat development of their breasts; the hips are spreading and much
more changes occur to the teenage body.
Pregnant women have to sit by and watch every part of their bodies
grow. Naturally their stomachs grow rapidly to the point of no return.
And with this sudden growth comes inevitable stretch marks. And
don’t forget that if you have blond or red hair, have dry skin or
are dehydrated, you’re at an ever larger risk of developing them.
And once you have these scars, it’s tough, but not impossible, to
reduce them.
I have come to the conclusion that stretch marks are caused by some
kind of hormone activity and not solely through rapid weight gain and
loss. You don't have to be pregnant or fat in order to get these
hateful scars. As a matter of fact, it is a very common skin condition,
but most people who have them are embarrassed by them and try to hide
them.
The stretch marks that are directly related hormone activity mostly happen during:
· Pregnancy
· General growth for adolescent boys and girls
· Rapid weight gain/loss
· Depression or extreme unhappiness (believe it or not)
· Long term lacking of certain vitamins and nutrients
· Sudden change in physical or environmental conditions.
Certain medications may cause stretch marks as well such as using
steroids or hormonal medications. The reason why this happens with
certain medications is probably because the medication is sending or
processing the wrong information relating with skin development, which
is what causes skin to produce an insufficient amount of collagen and
Elastin which is what actually forms the connective tissue of your
skin.
When the connective tissue in your skin breaks apart, there are stretch
marks that become the end result of this. Stretch marks begin to
form from deep skin tissue and then they gradually develop to the
skin’s surface. Although in many cases they seem to just pop up
out of nowhere, but there really is a process.
Stretch marks happen to men and women, fat and thin people, as well as
the young and old. In most cases they don't hurt or irritate the skin
so a lot of people don't even notice them until they get really bad or
noticeable. When stretch marks first occur they are pinkish red which
is caused by micro blood vessels breaking up from within and bleeding.
They can also start up and be a faint pale color, however later on they
mostly change and become a pale silvery white. If they get bigger, they
can literally cover your whole body and strike anywhere. I’ve
heard of people who have told me that they got them on their face,
which just shocked me.
Most people think that stretch marks are completely incurable. To be
sure, they are very difficult to get rid of, but they don’t have
to be. I am not one of those people who will write about stretch marks,
having never had them. For the longest time I could not do anything
about them other than putting lotions on them and pray that they would
disappear.
It was a very irritating situation to be in and I hated it. I
tried just about everything that you could possible imagine to get rid
of them. You would think with the medical technologies they have today
that doctors could come up with some sort of effective treatment
already. But that's not the case. If you go see a doctor, most of them
will tell you that you have to just live with them and that they are
not curable.
Personally, I think they just don't care enough. Maybe in a doctor's
eyes stretch marks are not real problems. People might even think that
you are shallow if you are bothered by them, but with this being the
case, I’d rather be shallow and not have them than just celebrate
how awful they look. If you are one of those freaks who like to embrace
your flaws, more power to you.
The most damage stretch marks do to you is most likely to affect your
self esteem. They make you feel dirty; imperfect and ugly as if you
suddenly became the blob or something. Besides, they are really not
attractive to look at, so you are not shallow when you are bothered by
them, you’re human. But instead being negative about them, you
should strike back at them and I am telling you that they can be cured
and even eliminated if you do it right away. And you don’t
have to mutilate your skin to do it.