How Stretch Marks Occur

Stretch marks can affect all of us. Many people assume the cause of stretch marks (also known as striae) is due to pregnancy and so only pregnant women and mothers are affected. This simply isn't true.

Body builders and people who gain a great deal of weight are susceptible to stretch marks. Also, teens are often afflicted with striae during the "growth spurts" of puberty. In short, anytime skin that is dramatically stretched quickly, striae is apt to appear.

Not only can stretch marks affect adults and teens, but they can affect children and people of every race and ethnicity, as well. What are stretch marks, and why do they occur?

The skin is a remarkable organ. It's the largest and one of the most complex organs in the entire body. It protects our internal organs, keeps dangerous microorganisms at bay, helps us eliminate wastes, and processes external elements, such as sunshine, for our benefit. One of the skin's most remarkable abilities is its ability to stretch.

Elastin and collagen are two of the building blocks of skin. They are both proteins in the form of elastic fibers. Collagen is a binding agent in skin and it is the building block of the connective tissue. Elastin provides the skin with, you guessed it, its elasticity.

The skin is extremely elastic; however, at certain times, skin is over-stressed and stretched beyond its ability to give. When this happens, the skin actually tears. Then, these tiny tears and little rips heal, resulting in scar tissue and show up on the outer part of the skin as stretch marks.

How Stretch Marks Can Be Prevented or Repaired
Cocoa butter is a popular home remedy for stretch marks. Traditionally, pregnant women have used cocoa butter on thier bellies to prevent stretch marks . Certainly its moisturizing capacity helps to improve the skin's elasticity; however, it's effectiveness in preventing stretch marks is rather limited.

People who desire to prevent stretch marks should look for a product that helps the body create the very elements that are being oppressed: collagen and elastin. Pregnant women, body builders, or growing teenagers can prevent skin tearing by stimulating their body to trigger and speed the regeneration of collagen, elastin and the water holding proteins that help prevent tearing and subsequent scarring.

Fortunately, such stimulation can be achieved with topical products (those you place directly on the skin) that contain molecules that act as biological activators of skin renewal, the same ingredients also aid in the repair of stretch marks.
Biological activators are (1) enzymes that catalyze, or speed up biochemical reactions within skin cells by a factor of many thousands, (2) proteins which enable cells to communicate and effectively coordinate activities between one another, also known as growth factors, (3) glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) – complex carbohydrate chains that are not only vital moisturizers and lubricants present in the interstitial spaces between surface skin cells, but by virtue of their interaction with growth factor proteins and their receptors act as regulators of vascularization (new capillary blood vessel formation) and cell division. Also. they are fundamental biological players in the cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions that take place during normal and pathological events related to cell recognition, adhesion, migration and growth.

These molecules that are present in skin care products that are not merely clever concoctions of natural ingredients, but have a proven record of effectiveness. One such product is a cream made from the mucins of land snails, the same mucins that these little creatures use to repair their own skin and shell when damaged. The biological activators in it promote cell regeneration, which improves scars' appearance. They also thicken the epidermal layer, creating a smoother top layer of skin. This further improves the look of stretch marks, whether they are recent or old.
With the use of BIO SKIN CARE� Cream damaged cells and toxins are dissolved, hair follicles are cleaned of debris, germs are destroyed and new collagen, elasting and water holding cells are formed. The Final Result: YOUR SKIN CLEAR OF STRETCH MARKS.

by: Martha Fitzharris

Martha Fitzharris is a free lance journalist for http://www.naturalbioskincare.com a website offering a new biological natural skin care product that activates skin renewal.

If you want more information about Strech marks, please clic natural skin care cream with natural skin renewal activators.