How to Treat Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are normal and quite common, as are questions on how to treat them. There is no proven way to prevent them, but some treatments may help to minimize the appearance. I’m all for embracing your stretch marks but if you do want to try and minimize their appearance here is what you should know.

First, what are stretch marks?

A stretch mark is a type of scar that develops when our skin stretches or shrinks rapidly. The abrupt change causes collagen and elastin in the skin to rupture. As the skin heals, stretch marks may appear. They commonly develop with growth spurts in puberty, during pregnancy, rapid weight change, or with rapid muscle growth. 

Many home remedies have been said to prevent or help treat stretch marks but have little evidence. In studies, neither almond oil, cocoa butter, olive oil, nor vitamin E showed effectiveness for stretch marks. 

There are many over the counter creams, lotions, and gels sold to treat stretch marks. While no one product seems to help all of the time — and some may not help at all — here are some tips should you choose to try one of these products. First, be sure to use the product on early stretch marks. Treatment seems to have little effect on mature stretch marks. Massage the product into your stretch marks as this may make it more effective. And apply the product every day for a number of weeks.

In studies, two ingredients seem to offer the best chance at treating stretch marks: Hyaluronic acid (HA) and Tretinoin.

Applying HA to early stretch marks was shown to help make them less noticeable. As mentioned above, it is important to massage into the skin and use consistently over weeks, if not months, to see improvement.

Tretinoin was also shown to be helpful. In one study, people who applied it every night for 24 weeks had less noticeable stretch marks. Those who didn’t apply the cream saw their early stretch marks grow. (Note: this cannot be used for pregnant women)

In office procedures including lasers, microneedling, radiofrequency or ultrasound may also be helpful. Increasingly there is more data to support some of these procedures!