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You Don't Have to Just Live with Stretch Marks

You Don't Have to Just Live with Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are a form of scar tissue. They run in bands of parallel lines along your skin, different in color and texture than your normal skin. When they’re new, they can be anywhere from bright pink to purple, and as they fade, they turn light gray or silver. You may be able to feel either a small ridge or indentation when you run your finger over them, and they may, on occasion, feel itchy or sore.

Stretch marks can show up anywhere, but they’re most common on the stomach, thighs, breasts, upper arms, and buttocks. They aren’t a health threat, but they may make you feel self-conscious enough that you want to have them removed.

At Pure Touch Skin Center, our master aestheticians understand that stretch marks can be an eyesore, which is why they offer microneedling treatments, including with the Morpheus8 system, so you don’t have to live with them any more.

The origins of stretch marks

Stretch marks result from one of two things:

  1. Your skin stretches or shrinks beyond its normal elastic properties
  2. Your adrenal glands produce too much of the hormone cortisone, causing skin to lose elasticity

By far stretching and shrinking are more common. This includes rapid weight gain or loss; growth spurts during teen years, and pregnancy, in which the body has to make room for the developing fetus.

Other potential causes include corticosteroid pills, creams, and lotions that decrease the skin’s ability to stretch; and adrenal gland disorders such as Cushing’s syndrome, Marfan’s syndrome, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Macro reasons for microneedling

Microneedling is an aesthetic procedure that creates numerous small punctures in the skin with tiny, sterilized needles. In response, your body goes into healing mode, producing more of the proteins collagen and elastin, which are important for skin structure. The proteins heal the wounds and fill in the ridges and indentations, eliminating the stretch marks above.

At Pure Touch Skin Center, we use the FDA-cleared SkinPen® to create the micro-injuries that lead to increased collagen and elastin production. It’s the most advanced medical-grade, automated microneedling device available.

We can also “bump up” treatment using the Morpheus8. This microneedling system directs radiofrequency (RF) energy directly into the micro-injuries, reaching deeper into the skin than the needles alone to stimulate collagen and elastin production. It’s safe on all skin types and poses little risk of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, a common side effect of other resurfacing methods, because it doesn’t involve heat.

Each session takes about 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the treatment area(s). Patients usually notice an immediate glow on their skin following the treatment, with visible reduction in stretch marks over the next several days and weeks.

You can expect improvements to continue for up to six months after the treatment, as healing continues and collagen levels increase. Most people, though, require four to six treatments to see a major reduction in the marks.

If you have stretch marks, you don’t have to live with them. Pure Touch Skin Center can help. Give us a call at either location to set up a consultation with one of our aestheticians, or send us a message online today.

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