How do you get rid of stretch marks?

Stretch marks can appear with no warning, and can really affect your confidence.  As a teenager or adult, growing taller or gaining weight, building muscle and also in pregnancy. The big question is – how do you get rid of stretch marks?

They come when your skin is stretched quickly beyond its capability, and the collagen and elastin fibres rupture.  They can also come if your skin shrinks quickly but this isn’t as likely.

There are a few treatments which can help make a big improvement, but don’t expect a miracle cure.

Microneedling

This treatment involves a pen like device – which contains a number of sterile needles.  The needles hit and puncture the skin at various depths – causing tiny wounds in the skin.

The idea is that by causing controlled damage to the skin, it forces it to heal and repair so improving the overall look.  Numbing cream is put on the area first, so the process isn’t painful.

Some devices only penetrate the skin by 1.5mm which isn’t really deep enough to improve stretch marks. Ideally the device needs to penetrate to 3mm, to make a good improvement.  Afterwards you will look red and sunburnt for up to a week, but there’s no real lasting side effect.

You’ll need 3-6 treatments spaced 6 weeks apart.

Fractional Laser Resurfacing

Laser treatments can make a huge difference to the appearance of the skin, and can significantly improve stretch marks. It’s important that you opt for ‘Fractional’ also sometimes referred to as Pixel Laser. Lasers and IPL systems which are used to remove hair, pigmentation and thread veins won’t work for stretch marks.

A fractional laser vaporises the water in the skin (so turns the water into steam).  It cleverly does this in a chequerboard style effect – so it hits and misses and hits and misses the skin.  This way it leaves lots of skin untouched.  The treatment feels very hot and can be sore for a few days, but once healed it will be worth it.

The same as Microneedling, you’ll need around 3-6 treatments spaced 6 weeks apart.

Plasma Pen

Plasma treatments are another good options for stretch marks.  This treatment uses a pen like instrument, which emits ‘plasma energy’. Where the energy hits the skin it vaporises particles of skin – making tiny  wounds.

These wounds look like brown black dots all over your skin. You need to leave them alone and let them drop off by themselves. They’ll heal over the next 6-10 days, and this makes the skin repair and build new collagen.

Overall this can significantly improve the appearance of the skin, and shrink the stretch marks.  After this treatment your skin will look quite pink – so that ‘new skin’ look which you see after a scab has dropped off.  It will start to blend in with the rest of the area after around 4 weeks.

Again you need multiple treatments with Plasma – around 3-6+, depending on the scale of the stretch marks in the first place.

Conclusion

It’s not easy to get rid of stretch marks – in fact don’t expect to ‘get rid’ of them entirely, but you can definitely make a big improvement.

All of these technologies require multiple sessions and can be carried out anywhere on your body.  So if you have stretch marks on your thighs, stomach, arms, bottom, wherever, you’ll be able to have any of these treatments.

The price will vary greatly depending on the technology and the size of the area to be treated. Expect prices to start from around £95 per session for a smaller area of stretch marks.

I hope this has helped if you’re struggling with stretch marks and want to improve them. If you need any more information, feel free to email me at: rach@radiantlivig.co.uk

You can also visit our Plasma Revive treatment page here.  Or visit our Microneedling page here.