By Nikhita Banta
Over the years, you and I have become more conscious about our appearance. Nowadays, not only women care much about their outward form, but men too have become watchful of it.
Stretch marks are our one such common concern, which may wary in magnitude for both genders. Often referred to as striae by the experts, stretch marks are results of rapid extension of dermis, the inner layer of the skin that maintains shape and elasticity.
It is a form of scarring that appears on the skin when the dermis is stretched beyond its tolerance level, causing the skin’s connective fibers to break, hampering the collagen production. The hormonal changes associated majorly with pregnancy promote stretch marks in women.
While in men, they are impacted by brisk weight gain from body building.
Being a significant source of agitation, professionals have come up with remedies to combat these visible marks. Let us brief you about each of them in order to help you take a better decision.
LASER TREATMENT:
For removing stretch marks using LASER, a concentrated light beam is focused on the thin skin layers surrounding the stretch marks.
An exciplex laser, which is a form of UV laser, is used for this purpose. Rather than imposing any physical damage to the affected areas of the skin tissues, this high intensity UV light unsettles the molecular bonds in them.
Following the laser therapy, the treated area will be sore and sensitive because of the removal of blemished skin. Temporary blistering may appear but absolute healing will take place in not more than few weeks.
In majority cases, this treatment has proven to be highly potent without any known side effects.
· Risks: On being exposed to laser, skin tissues suffer some amount of erosion. Therefore, a fumbled laser handling can cause permanent peripheral tissue damage.
Also, acutely rooted marks may not disappear completely, although their visibility can be minimized to a great extent.
· Benefits: Its efficacy is the most crucial benefit of a laser stretch mark treatment. Further, the excimer laser used to treat patients is controllably safe.
And finally, the entire drill has comparative lower cost with less recovery time and fewer complications.
ORGANIC TREATMENT:
Using prescribed lotions and creams and following recommended exercises and dietary regulations form the most conventional stretch mark removal treatment. These days, there is an entire range of cosmetic products available, which includes a wide variety of stretch mark removal creams in itself.
These products catalyze the fading process of fresh stretch marks, leaving them barely visible on your skin.
· Risks: Since there are numerous topical products available which profess to remove stretch marks, there is a high chance of goof. This means that out of all these creams and lotions, majority may just be futile.
Worse still, possibly some of these products may contain toxic ingredients causing serious health issues among buyers.
· Benefits: Almost all the natural stretch mark removal merchandises are generally more affordable than other intense dermatology procedures and therapies. They also do not require any clinical prescription as they are non-surgical.
Moreover, they can be easily availed at both, online and offline stores and you can opt for known brands, such as Dermology stretch mark cream, as they are less likely to pose any threat to your skin.
SURGICAL TREATMENT:
Even though stretch marks are not a health hazard, yet they continue to instil mental insecurity in most people. For patients who want these marks completely taken off their bodies, surgical treatment serves them the best.
While natural and laser therapies will only fade stretch marks by concealing them, a surgery will completely eliminate them. By far tummy tuck is the only successful surgical method to remove stretch marks.
Medically referred to as abdominoplasty, tummy tuck can so far treat only the mid to lower abdominal areas, by tightening the abdominal muscles to remove excessive skin flab.
· Risks: It is a major surgery which requires spending about three to five hours on anaesthesia, in the operation theatre. As it is a full-fledged surgical procedure, it comes with its corresponding risks of infection. It may even cause simultaneous lung and heart complications due to clots.
Since the results are assured, surgical treatment for stretch marks removal is way expensive than the non-surgical methods.
· Benefits: A tummy tuck remarkably improves posture as tightening abdominal muscles in the procedure will make the spine more supported. Thus, the patient can then stand up straighter with an improved posture. Although, complete recovery may take several weeks, but the end results make the patients confident and less insecure about their appearance.
Just as a coin has two faces likewise, all these treatments come along with their respective pros and cons. For example, a surgery may sound appealing due to its effectiveness, however, it is upon the patient to decide whether or not is it worthy enough to overlook the cons and focus only on the pros.
Plus, a detailed discussion with your surgeon in this case would settle your dilemma. Before landing on any conclusion, get informed in your specific case, prioritize your needs and then decide.