To get rid of stretch marks, care should be taken to avoid unnecessary and prolonged use of potent cortisone skin preparations which weaken the skin and predispose it to stretch marks. Excessive weight fluctuations and use of muscle building steroids during physical training should also be avoided.

Stretch marks are unsightly and a cosmetic solution is commonly sought. To date, this condition has been difficult to treat. Vitamin E oil, aloe vera, and similar agents do not prevent or reverse this problem, and allergic reactions to these agents are common. Many techniques currently being used to reduce or eliminate stretch marks are not yet refined and require further exploration and research.

Stretch marks are little rows of discolorations that can mar the smoothness of your skin. They usually show in certain parts of the body, like hips, thighs, breasts, buttocks, waist or arms. Simply put, these marks appear when your skin can not stretch to keep up with your body growth and muscle growth. The collagen fibres in the deeper part of the skin tear due to expansion. It can also happen after a large increase in weight or if you have suddenly gain height. The average newborn baby weighs about seven pounds. The average adult weighs twenty times as much. In order to accommodate this massive, if gradual, increase in size our skin needs to stretch a great deal, if skin did not stretch and grow with us we would all burst out of our skins at a very early age.

Stretch marks are formed when the skin stretches at a rate that cannot be sustained by its elasticity. They may appear after rapid weight gain, spurts of growth, and pregnancy. The development of body contours, such as breasts or the bulking up of muscles, as seen in weight lifters, can also cause stretch marks, Anything that increases the body's cortisone levels, as is the case during puberty, obesity, weight gain, the injection of cortisone medications, or even the application of potent cortisone creams will increase the likelihood of stretch marks.

Stretch marks initially appear as red or purple lines of varying lengths and widths. Sometimes they are wrinkled and shiny. Gradually they fade to a color a shade lighter than the surrounding skin.

Women are more prone to stretch marks than men, and the marks usually appear on the breasts, the lower abdomen, the buttocks, and thighs. Men tend to get stretch marks only on the buttocks and outer thighs.

However, although usually skin can accommodate this gradual change in shape and size very successfully it doe, sometimes fail to cope: it can be strained by sudden changes in body weight and size, and stretch marks are the visible souvenirs of that unacceptable pressure.

Stretch marks usually show where the elastic fibres of the skin were put under the greatest stress and their number and size is usually proportionate to the rate of weight change.

It is not known exactly what happens during the development of stretch marks but it seems possible that hormones weaken and rupture the elastic fibres while mechanical forces decide the extent, length and direction of the resulting stretch marks.

Stretch marks can occur at almost any time of life but there are two occasions when they are particularly likely to develop:

1 The earliest date at which stretch marks develop is usually adolescence when changes in hormone levels in the body accompany a fairly rapid weight gain. Experts disagree about just how common striae are at this time but it seems that between a half and three quarters of all girls and about a third of all boys develop marks somewhere on their bodies. Varying in length, stretch marks are usually pink or purple to start with, although they invariably fade to white scars as the years go by, becoming wrinkled and papery with time. Adolescent boys usually develop striae on their backs, buttocks and abdomens while girls develop marks on their breasts as well.

2 The other very common time when women develop stretch marks is, of course, during pregnancy. An ordinary female abdomen has to stretch considerably during those nine months, to cope with the developing foetus.

Stretch Marks Treatment Once stretch marks have developed the most effective way to deal with them is with a camouflage cream. Your local pharmacist should be able to recommend a suitable one but if you have difficulty, ask your doctor to refer you to a dermatologist, who should be able to advise you on suitable creams - indeed some specialist dermatologists now work closely with specially trained beauticians. I would not suggest plastic surgery for stretch marks because the result may be scars that are more noticeable than the stretch marks. Remember, although they rarely disappear entirely stretch marks do usually fade as the years go by. The regular use of tretinoin in high doses has provided the first effective treatment for this condition. Although, lasers, such as the Ultrapulse carbon dioxide laser or the pulse dye lasers, are beginning to make some inroads into the therapeutic options for stretch marks.