Which one is easier? Getting stretch marks or removing them? If you have had to contend with these pesky skin scars, you would know how hard it is to get rid of stretch marks. While there are many methods of dealing with this problem, laser treatment for stretch marks is one of the most common. But just how effective is it? Does it really work? In this article, we give this method an in-depth examination.
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What Are Stretch Marks?
Stretch marks refer to the scars that you get on your skin as a result of puberty, obesity, pregnancy, and a short-term increase in weight due to bodybuilding. They come because of the stretching of the dermis beyond normal levels. This causes breakage in the skin fibers leading to a disruption of the natural collagen production process hence the scarring.
What Are the Causes of Stretch Marks?
There are many reasons why both men and women develop stretch marks. The following are the most common culprits:
- Pregnancy – stretch marks are very common in women as a result of pregnancy. In fact, over a quarter of all pregnant women have issues with stretch marks after giving birth.
- Genetics – with women, stretch marks are closely linked to an individual’s genetics. Thus, women whose mothers had stretch marks during pregnancy are also likely to have the same problem.
- Puberty – individuals in puberty often experience abnormal spurts in growth hence stretch marks. It is often true when the skin just cannot cope with the growth.
- Bodybuilding – bodybuilders often must contend with the rapid growth of muscle mass. This makes the skin to stretch beyond normal limits.
- Corticosteroids – people who use topical and oral corticosteroids for prolonged periods of time usually develop stretch marks.
- Ethnicity – people with naturally dark skin don’t usually have stretch marks. Others are at risk.
Laser Treatments for Stretch Marks
Stretch mark removal is not as simple as it sounds. While there are doctors who have no issues with laser treatment methods, others don’t approve of them. The following are the most common types of laser stretch mark treatment procedures:
Pulsed Dye Laser
This method is used to stimulate collagen and elastin growth in the dermis of the skin. Its effect is the filling in of the indented stretch marks. Pulsed dye laser works well on fresh reddish stretch marks. It may, therefore, not be very effective on those that have already assumed a white color.
For the best results, the doctor may require you to attend no less than two sessions spaced at most two months apart. Despite having some stinging effects, this procedure is largely safe. It doesn’t have much of an effect on the surface of the skin and only directs the laser right into the dermis underneath. The only known side-effects of this laser treatment for stretch marks are a few bruises and slight bleeding, which all clear within a couple of weeks.
Excise Laser
The purpose of excise laser is to spur the production of melanin. It is used to treat the stretch marks with the similar color to that of the surrounding skin. You can’t be healed by going through just one treatment. You will require 10 treatment sessions in two-week intervals. To keep the new skin color, you will need extra sessions of this form of treatment. After the main treatment, you will need extra treatments at intervals of one to two months.
Before you use laser treatment for stretch marks, you ought to know that your skin will remain the same even as the color of your skin changes. This method doesn’t cause damage to the skin, but only leads to redness of your skin.
Does Laser Treatment for Stretch Marks Really Work?
It is clear that using a laser to remove stretch marks is not a sure cure of stretch mark issues. If anything, the results are not assured. The extent to which you benefit from this method depends on how white or red your stretch marks are.
The main objective of laser treatment for stretch marks is to stimulate the skin’s natural healing process. Overall, laser treatment methods rarely hurt the skin. If it does, then it is to a very small extent. Together with helping the skin produce more collagen, it directly helps decrease the color under the stretch mark.
Unlike the creams used to treat stretch marks, a laser provides no additional nutrition for your skin.
What Are the Benefits of Laser Treatment for Stretch Marks?
- Laser treatment does not require any work on your side apart from making your way to the doctor’s office.
- Although there is no guarantee that you will get rid of your stretch marks, it has promising results.
- It has little or no downtime which means you can get back to your normal life in almost no time. You wouldn’t even know you had surgery.
What Are the Disadvantages of Laser Treatment?
- This method of treatment costs much more than any of the other available methods. You will pay between $400 and $800 every time you make a visit to the doctor’s office.
- There is no guarantee that you will actually get rid of the stretch marks.
- Finding a hospital offering this procedure can be a hassle.
- Laser treatment is not permanent, and it might be necessary for you to undergo the procedure in the future again.
Is Laser Treatment for Stretch Marks Permanent?
Laser treatment only helps deal with the stretch marks and not the root cause of the problem. You are, therefore, not likely to end experiencing the same problem in the future. Since you will have to spend more money to get rid of the stretch marks, you may end up spending way too much than you can afford. As such, laser treatment methods are only meant to remove stretch marks and not to deal with their long-term causes.
Summary
Laser treatment for stretch marks is very expensive. It can also cost a small fortune to get the results you want. Before you commit your money into it, why don’t you try the cheaper stretch mark removal methods?
There are some excellent stretch mark creams available, which prevent stretch marks, and also remove stretch marks.
Prevention is always better than cure, so if you are in danger of getting stretch marks, you should start using the stretch marks creams before you get stretch marks.
If you already have the stretch marks, you can reduce them or even get rid of them with the stretch mark creams. Even if you don’t get rid of stretch marks completely, you can reduce them significantly, and you won’t spend a fortune, but you’ll get better results than with laser treatments.
Buy Dermology Stretch Mark Cream
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