Anti Stretch Mark Cream Myths

If you have stretch marks you know how unsightly and embarrassing they can be. If you had a baby, you might not feel like you will ever be comfortable in a swim suit again. If you lost or gained a significant amount of weight, your body is different and it may now have some stretch marks on it. This can be especially discouraging if they appeared as you sought to better yourself by losing weight. However, before you run out to purchase some anti stretch mark cream, you need to learn about what causes stretch marks and what you can really do about them.

Causes For Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are brought on by changes in your body, usually in the form of rapid weight gain or rapid weight loss. They can also be brought on in hormonal issues, like with puberty. By the time that you can physically see a stretch mark, the damage has already occurred: no anti stretch mark cream can cure you from stretch marks. What happens is that the collagen deep beneath your skin tears when there is excess stress placed on it. This can happen if you gain or lose weight and is most common during pregnancy. The collagen works as a pad or pillow to keep the epidermis, or skin, taut and tight. When the cushion beneath it becomes a cavern, the skin reacts accordingly and forms a stretch mark. By the time that you can see the stretch mark, it is like a scar on your body, which is why anti stretch mark cream will not help it.

What You Can Do

Not all anti stretch mark cream is a waste of money. Some anti stretch mark cream works to reduce the appearance of the scar. Other anti stretch mark creams work to reduce the purple or red color of the stretch mark to make it less noticeable. However, no anti stretch mark cream can completely remove a stretch mark. No cream can build back collagen. The only way to treat stretch marks in a complete manner is through laser treatments. These are expensive and often times painful, but the results are unarguable.

Many people swear by anti stretch mark cream to help prevent the formation of stretch marks in the first place. There are special pregnancy stretch mark cream brands out there to help women who are pregnant keep supple and stretchable skin to avoid stretch marks. These same anti stretch mark creams can be used outside of pregnancy as well. However, even if you use these creams, if you are hereditarily susceptible to stretch marks, you may never be able to avoid them.