Dr. Syed explains causes of stretch marks during pregnancy, care, and treatment options that one do without too much stress
One of the conditions, which is very, very common during pregnancy and it does happen very frequently in the Indian scenario is the stretch marks. So what are these stretch marks? The stretch marks are when a skin shrinks a stretch in a short span of time, we get the stretch marks. Apart from pregnancy, where, the woman’s body bears a lot of weight.
There’s swelling. There is edema and there is increased weight. Normally it has to be around 11, 12 kgs, and occasionally somebody is carrying, it can go up to 20kgs. Now just imagine within nine months, the skin is stretching and down the skin, we have this elastin, the glycogen, the fiber blood, the cells, which are the metrics of the skin.
So, they stretch a bit and they tear and on the skin, we notice these leanest streaks, and, and they give a really bad kind of an impression. And this is, these are called stretch marks. And these are very common happens mostly in the lower abdomen and upper thighs and around, or obviously, it can happen around the breast area equally, but something is very catchy. It cannot happen to everyone. So it is somewhere the family tendency is there. Certain women do get it because back there in families do have, her mother could have hadn’t had the same problem and when she would have been pregnant and all, so it happens in specific families, but it’s really very, very common.
And apart from pregnancy, like gaining weight quickly or crash dieting can do, or sometimes in men or in women equally when you go and do gyming and, and put on these weights and all that can give this stretch marks around the shoulder area. Now, what is the treatment for these stretch marks?
And does we really need to get worried and what, what to do actually. So all that you see in advertisements and on media and all that. The oils and all these are actually fake things and there’s nothing scientific data that really supports them. And yes, there are certain prime Rose oils and things like that.
But these actually promise, but never, ever delivered in. So normally as stretch marks fade, firstly, it’s a pink color and it slowly settles down. It becomes the colored music and then the new attributed to some specific treatment it’s because of that cream that I had applied and now it’s becoming better.
No, it’s a normal course. So skin is healing slowly, slowly. But what can be done is there are fractional lasers we dermatologists have and even certain plastic surgeons have these lasers, which are meant, not for stretch marks but for other scars, but equally we, we treat the stretch marks with these fractionals your two lasers.
There are certain micro-needling procedures that are done for stretch marks. There is some music therapy that has done for stretch marks. Even for that matter. PRP to this flip, these PRPs are actually platelet-rich plasma. Those platelets have the growth factors and those growth factors trigger again, and all the fiber blasts.
The glycosaminoglycans in our skin and increase the matrix of the skin. And you can get a partially good response, but with all those treatment modalities available, don’t expect and like the results beyond 70, 80%. So it got you can’t remove them completely. Yes, you can. It can get better but never fell into a trap.
Like don’t get into it but just first complete pregnancy and complete your family so far. For example, somebody. I say, okay, doc, I’m done. I have a baby. And I just want to get rid of my stretch marks. Shall I start the, and I say, no, first are you done with your family? If you’re planning to conceive again, next year, coming years, then better you complete your family and come fix it forever. Otherwise, because the skin is going to stretch again. They’re going to come again. So that’s how this is the cause of this and this problem called stretch marks. How we can take care of it.
