You have just had you second child and now you are wondering how you can ever wear a bikini again. You rush past the mirror each morning just to avoid seeing those horrible purple streaks across your stomach that are thicker than your finger. You are not sure whether it is just in your genes or if your refusal to follow the doctor's advice to apply moisturizing lotion twice daily caused these unsightly scars. One thing that is certain though and that is the fact that you are in need of some stretch mark skin care. For cases like this, there are advanced skincare techniques that may not completely remove the marks but will at least leave you feeling satisfied.

Pregnancy and weight gain are the two major causes of stretch marks. When your skin is stretched to maximum capacity, your skin's elastic fibers and collagen breaks down and the ruptured middle layer tissue can then be seen through the thinned outer layer of skin. As unattractive as this may be, it is an almost inevitable part of having a baby, since your fluctuating hormones alter your skin's ability to simply bounce back. Even so, there are home remedies and proper precautions for stretch marks that you can take to make these unsightly scars obsolete.

Stretch marks are every pregnant woman's anxiety and although they are common, they are certainly not very attractive. The inevitable expansion of the body to accommodate the baby often leaves pink, red or purple streaks on the skin of the abdomen, breasts, upper arms, buttocks and thighs. The condition is further exacerbated by dryness, a lack of vitamin A/C/E/zinc/protein and not ingesting sufficient fluids.

Before giving birth, women will experience a stretching of the skin and underlying tissue in their abdomens. More often than not, constant erratic cravings have these poor mothers eating far more than they would like to, causing extra weight gain. Not only does the skin start stretching, but other changes take place as well.

There are numerous stretch mark removal treatment options but no guarantee for a cure. Nevertheless, the appearance of the marks will not cause any other bodily harm, so treating the scars is simply a matter of cosmetics. Younger adolescents, who experience these marks as part of their growing pains, will usually see a gradual diminishing of the striations on their own as time passes.

If you are noticing changes in your skin due to pregnancy or weight loss, you will definitely want to know more about stretch marks, and how you can prevent or get rid of them. Stretch marks develop when the middle layer of your skin, called the dermis, is stretched so far that elasticity begins to break down, causing microscopic bleeding, tissue inflammation and eventual scarring.