Stretch Marks
Photo courtesy of Francesca deAngelis, MD with permission of Palomar Medical Technologies, Inc Treatment - Fractional Resurfacing Multiple Sessions Individual results may vary
The treatment of stretch marks has long been one of the more difficult challenges for dermatologists. Because a stretch mark is the result of a "tear" in the dermis, superficial treatments have traditionally had little effect.
With the FDA approval of Fractional Laser for the treatment of stretch marks, we do offer this option, though the promise is bigger than the reality. If you are willing to engage in a somewhat tedious process over a long period of time - with the risk of hyper pigmentation - then laser treatment of stretch marks may help to a certain degree. At this stage, though, our experience has not been as great as we'd hoped.
Where do stretch marks come from?
- Growth spurts
- Puberty
- Hormones
- Pregnancy
- Skin stretching from body building
- Weight Gain
- Weight Loss (especially quick loss from gastric bypass or lap band)
- Topical Steroids
Stages of a stretch mark
Initially a stretch mark shows as a reddish line in the skin. Most often this will be in areas of the hips, abdomen, breasts and thighs. Because the dermal layer of the skin has separated and the collagen fibers no longer connect, the skin integrity is lost. Over time the color changes, the redness diminishes and the mark turns silvery or white. Red stretch marks in their early stages can be treated to some degree with topical products to keep the surrounding skin pliable so further separation of tissue is minimized. Vbeam Laser provides a sure method to reduce redness.
Once the marks are mature (white or silver in appearance) the only viable treatment is fractional laser.
How does fractional laser lessen stretch marks?
Fractional nonablative lasers don't remove skin, they super-heat the skin to purposefully cause a controlled skin injury beneath the surface. The body's response to this purposeful heat injury is to produce new collagen. The new collagen then begins to interweave within the tissue surrounding the stretch mark, and potentially below it, and to some degree partially "rebuilds" the compromised dermal tears to bring the edges tighter together. Melanin cells from undamaged skin surrounding the marks migrate to help recolor the stretch mark scar - not completely, but even small changes in color help diminish appearance differences. The end result is a fainter, finer stretch mark line with a smoother surface and more normal looking skin.
Does the stretch mark completely disappear?
Nothing yet has been developed to completely remove stretch marks. Sequential laser sessions provide increasing levels of improvement.
How many treatments will I need?
Patients in the clinical studies typically had three initial sessions over a period of three months. Because the changes are going on deep within the skin tissues, improvement takes considerable time. At 6 months you will be evaluated and photographed. At 12 months, if your stretch mark appearance is deemed to be further treatable, a 2nd set of sessions can be undertaken.
Patient Compliance
To lessen the potential for post treatment hyperpigmentation, you will pretreat the area with a pigmentation suppression solution for 1 month. Following your sessions and for 6 months, you will continue the topical treatments. You MUST keep the area out of the sun and you should not wear tight clothing in the treated area. Best results will only be obtained by following the post treatment regimen.
