Every month, nearly 50,000 people Google the question, "How to get rid of stretch marks?"

 What about stretch marks?

The Latin name we doctors refer to stretch marks is striae gravidarum. Striae for linear patterns, slight ridges, or grooves on the surface in part to a more extensive collection with similar parallel features.  Gravidarum - just means a woman with child aka pregnant.  

Stretch marks don’t just occur to females during pregnancy. They can happen to males at any time. Usually, they occur during times of hormones like relaxin, estrogen, or cortisone are significantly fluctuating. Fluctuations of such hormones our with pregnancy, during puberty, muscle gain or excessive weight, and certain medical conditions. Even using dermal steroids, like those used with eczema, can reduce the skin’s resilience.  

When the skin’s resilience is compromised, cutaneous changes in the skin, which happen anywhere there tends to be considerable amounts of stored fat. Thanks to mother nature giving us extra thermal protection and padding to our body, we may see stretch marks on our hips, butts, thighs, chests, and in pregnancy, most notably, the stomach. Stretch marks begin as cutaneous tears that actually penetrate deep into the tissue.  

Since stretch marks affect both the epidermis and dermis, let us look at what nutrients build up these layers’ actual contents. Stay tuned for the next Better Belly Butter Blog entry.