Is there any way of getting rid of or disguising stretch marks?
Stretch marks are certainly a common problem in many women who have had children or lost a great deal of weight. They are permanent in the sense that the skin never completely returns to normal but do often contract down with time into less obvious whitish scars. They are essentially due to thinning and breaking of the lower layer of skin containing collagen and elastin – the materials which give skin its suppleness and elasticity. Collagen creams do not work – they cannot since they are unable to penetrate to this layer – but at early stages some stretch marks do seem to be treatable by lasers. This gets rid of the red colour and may speed up the healing process but this is not available on the NHS. Your GP can advise you as to such a facility locally if you wanted to go privately.
