Stretch marks are marks that are caused in your skin due to excessive weight loss or weight gain in a short period of time. Stretch marks can begin to appear at the stage of puberty. Whenever the rate of growth in a person is higher than normal, the tissue underlying the skin is stretched to a greater extent. This causes stretch marks on the body.

A specific treatment for stretch marks that could completely remove the stretch marks and return the skin to its natural color is not available till date. The various options of treatment for stretch marks that are available in the market today only provide some relief from the symptoms and do not aid in completely removing them.

Plenty of topical medications are available in the market, which are being widely used in the treatment for stretch marks. Some of the options used in the treatment for stretch marks include topical medications, techniques using laser, and surgical procedures. Now let us see the pros and cons of these options used in the treatment for stretch marks. Moisturizers and creams are widely used in the treatment for stretch marks. Over-the-counter moisturizing creams containing vitamin E or A, are used as part of the treatment for stretch marks in the early stages.

Creams containing alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) that are made with plant extracts are also used in the treatment for stretch marks. The use of such creams as part of the treatment for stretch marks not only improves the look of stretch marks but also helps keep your skin supple. Tretinoin, sold as Retin-A is one of the other topical creams widely used in the treatment for stretch marks, that helps reduce new, dark stretch marks.

Laser surgery is one of the methods widely used in the treatment for stretch marks, which only aids the stretch marks to fade and not completely remove them. As the laser as part of the treatment for stretch marks, picks up only the darker areas of skin, this technique is used in the early stages when stretch marks are darker in color. The laser technique used in the treatment for stretch marks, require multiple sessions to show some visible results and the results also greatly depend on your skin color and type. Abdominoplasty is a surgery performed as part of treatment for stretch marks, which helps remove stretch marks below the belly button. Surgical skin resection is a procedure performed as part of treatment for stretch marks, which involves surgically cutting out the stretch marks.