Does Laser Treatment Remove Stretch Marks?
Lasers, focused beams of intense light, have been used to treat a variety of medical and cosmetic needs for years now. Used to weaken the ink in tattoos and the pigmentation that makes up moles, lasers may also be used to help improve a person's skin. Specifically, they can be used to treat scars and stretch marks.
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Scars
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A scar is made up mostly of collagen. This hard material is used to hold skin together when it was cut at a deep level, and it's the collagen that is a large part of a scar.
Stretch Marks
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Stretch marks can be thought of as the light version of scars. Stretch marks result from the skin being stretched (by bodybuilding, weight gain, growth spurt), but no actual tearing of the skin happened. The result is an unattractive line similar to a scar.
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Breaking the Collagen
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Laser treatment for stretch marks penetrates the upper layers of the patient's skin and reaches to the bottom layer, softening the collage and breaking it up.
Inflammation
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The laser will also cause mild swelling and inflammation in the skin layer or dermis. This will cause the body to restructure the skin in the area, erasing even more of the stretch marks as new skin takes their place.
Cure?
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A number of factors (size of the stretch mark, patient's age, skin health) will determine how effective laser treatments will be for stretch marks. The stretch marks are rarely erased completely, but they are reduced through regular treatments.
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