What Is Stretch Marks And What Causes Stretch Marks

what is stretch marks?

Many people, especially women, struggle with stretch marks. Many people feel disturbed when stretch marks start to appear on their skin, although it is a normal condition.

Many people don't know what is stretch mark actually and how stretch marks start to appear.  Find out here what stretch marks are and the causes of stretch marks, so this skin problem can be prevented as early as possible.

What Is Stretch Marks And What Causes Stretch Marks

What Is Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are scratches or notched streaks that often appear on the skin, especially on the body with a lot of fat, such as the upper abdomen, breasts, upper arms, buttocks, and thighs. 

These notched streaks are initially pink, red, white, or gray. Stretch mark is not harmful, but it affects someone's appearance. Most people hate the way it looks on their skin.

What Causes Stretch Marks

Not everyone gets stretch marks. This condition is usually experienced by people whose skin contains little collagen, a protein that makes skin supple.

Stretch marks generally start to appear due to rapid weight gain, which causes the size of the body to increase faster than the development and elasticity of the skin.

When the skin stretches quickly, the middle layer of the skin, known as the dermis, allows the layers below to come to the surface. Due to this, red lines or streaks will appear, sometimes accompanied by itching. Over time this line will turn white or gray. This condition is called stretch marks.

Here are some conditions that can increase a person's risk of developing stretch marks:

• Have a family history of stretch marks
• Puberty
• Drastic weight gain
• Pregnancy
• Light skin tone
• Inappropriate use of corticosteroid drugs
• Certain health conditions, such as:

1. Cushing's syndrome
2. Marfan's syndrome

How to Prevent Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are a common condition that cannot always be prevented. However, there are several ways you can do to minimize the risk of stretch marks, including:

1. Implementing a healthy diet

Eating healthy and fresh food, such as vegetables, fruits, deep sea fish, nuts, and beans, will help maintain your skin healthiness, including skin elasticity, so stretch marks can be avoided. 

Healthy and fresh foods contain high amounts of vitamin E, A, C, protein, vitamin B complex, and zinc to promote collagen and elastin production, which are essential to your skin health.

2. Maintain a healthy weight

Stretch marks mostly appear due to rapid weight gain. The skin growth that can't catch up with the rapid weight gain start to tears and leave scars in the form of the notched streak.

Therefore, maintaining your body weight in a stable condition is important to avoid stretch marks. Snacking, drinking alcohol, and eating junk foods and sugary foods will cause rapid weight gain.

However, if you already gaining weight and now you want to lose weight, please do it gradually. Losing your weight gradually will help your skin to slowly adjust following your body size without leaving flabby or excess skin, and it also helps to reduce your stretch mark. To be safe, try not to lose more than a kilogram weekly.

For pregnant women, the risk of developing stretch marks can decrease as long as the weight gain they experience is well maintained. Pregnant women normally gain weight ranging from 10–12.5 kilograms.

However, pregnant women cannot practice weight loss programs because it will affect their fetus's development. If you are afraid of drastic weight gain, please stick to a healthy diet such as eating more vegetables, fruits, and other healthy and rich nutrient foods, which help your body stay healthy and not cause excessive fat accumulation.

By implementing well-balanced diet foods, your weight will not spike drastically during pregnancy. In addition, natural ingredients, such as extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin coconut oil, rosehip oil, and aloe vera, will help nourish your skin, prevent dryness, and may also help to fade the stretch marks in pregnant women.

3. Maintain fluid intake

Dry skin will make your stretch marks too easily appears. Therefore, drinking enough water will help your skin hydrate, moisturize, and supple. Well-hydrated skin will improve skin elasticity. Therefore, it reduces the risk of dry skin and stretch marks.

According to research, drinking too many beverages that contains a lot of caffeine will increase your chance of developing stretch marks. Therefore, try to reduce your caffeine drink intake to avoid stretch mark development.

If you have so many stretch marks and want to hide or fade them, you can do several things to disguise or minimize stretch marks, including covering them with special creams or cosmetics.

Conclusion

Stretch marks can disappear over time, especially if you maintain your body weight by eating more nutritious food and exercising regularly; they will disappear faster. Stretch marks are harmless. Usually, they won't require special care.

However, if stretch marks are bothering you for some reason, you can consult a dermatologist on how to get rid of this notched streak. A dermatologist usually suggests chemical peels, laser therapy, or stretch mark removal cream.

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