Stretch marks are basically scars on the skin that are caused when a person gains a lot of weight quickly. While men can be affected, they are most common in mothers - caused by the rapid growth of the belly in pregnancy. The only treatment available was creams, which were largely ineffective. Recent advances in laser technology have made treating stretch marks easier and more effective than ever before.
"We actually use the fractionated lasers there and this has actually been an area that has been really exciting for us lately," says Denver fractional resurfacing provider Dr. David Verebelyi. "We just finished phase 1 of a clinical trial of treating those stretch marks with the fractionated laser and have seen some really beautiful results. The results we're seeing are up to 50% improvement after 3 treatments."
Courtesy of Laser & Skin Surgery Center of New York
Fractional lasers work by delivering columns of energy to the skin which damage it and stimulate collagen growth. The top layer of skin is removed and the areas of undamaged skin in between the columns help improve healing.
Dr. Verebelyi says the treatments are nearly painless. "The level of pain, it's virtually painless. What we do with our patients, we use a topical ointment, put it under occlusion, which basically means we stick it under a piece of saran wrap for a couple of hours. My patients do great with that. Nobody rates the pain at above a 1 ? 2 out of 10."
Healing is fast and is also not a painful process. "The recovery time on those - you might have to put some ointment on them for about a week, but that's about it. Most patients we treat about every month."
