Stretch marks and what can be done to shrink them!

Stretch marks, or striae distensae, occur from skin ‘tearing’ from over-stretching, eg in pregnancy or in rapid growth.

We distinguish striae rubra (red, fresh stretch marks) and striae alba (white or silvery, in older stretch marks).

Stretch marks are essentially little scars in the skin tissue and are a very stubborn condition to treat. As with any scar, it’s likely that they won’t disappear completely with treatment. However, in more than 80% of patients we can reduce the stretch mark width and make them significantly less visible.

At Eudelo our favourite treatment for stretch marks is carboxytherapy. That means that we superficially inject tiny amounts of medical grade carbon dioxide gas (CO2) directly into the stretch mark with a tiny needle. The injected CO2 gas makes your skin ‘think’ there is an oxygen deficit and it responds by increasing blood flow to the skin and regeneration of dormant tiny blood vessels in the skin. This will allow more oxygen and nutrients to reach the skin, which leads to improved elasticity, skin regeneration and tissue remodeling.

To make the procedure even more effective, carboxytherapy sessions can be alternated with Growth Factor or PRP (platelet rich plasma) Needling. For medical needling, a sterile needle pen is used to create microscopic punctures in the skin. These intentional ‘injuries’ induce thousands of tiny, controlled wound-healing responses, which lead to further collagen production and tissue remodeling.

In order to further enhance the benefits of medical needling, we combine the procedure with infusion of an advanced growth factor solution or PRP (platelet rich plasma, which is also very high in growth factors – derived from your own blood).

So there you go –  a combination treatment for optimal results.

Phone us on 020 7118 9500 to book a complementary consultation with Meena to discuss this further over a cup a tea!