Kiss your Stretch Marks Goodbye!
Are you looking to reduce the appearance of stretch marks?
We like to call them love lines or tiger stripes🐯, because it's likely that you got your stretch marks when you were becoming a woman or a mama. We love women who are confident in their skin, regardless of what it looks like. But if you ever feel like you need to cover an area due to stretch marks, or you feel uncomfortable in your swimwear or summer clothes, we have some solutions to lighten the appearance of those stretch marks.
The Science Behind Stretch Marks
Understand that stretch marks are completely normal and very common, 85% of women (and even some men) have experienced stretch marks at some point in their life. Stretch marks are usually formed during pregnancy or a growth phase in our life. The reason is the growth happens too fast and the skin is stretched excessively, causing it to weaken, resulting in the interruption of the collagen and elastin fibers creating red stripes on the skin, AKA stretch marks. Over time, the red color fades away and they turn into a beige pearly shade, like a shiny scar under the skin.
Unfortunately, stretch marks are very difficult to get rid of. There are a handful of things you can do to minimize the appearance of stretch marks. Believe it or not, no one cream or treatment will remove the stretch marks completely. We've all tried the infomercial creams and at-home treatments with little to no change. Often we hide our stretch marks under our clothes.
How we Treat Stretch Marks
Our solution to stretch marks utilizes a laser treatment and home-care approach to reduce the appearance of stretch marks. Our patients are seeing about 80% improvement in the appearance of their stretch marks.
So how does it work?
The iPixel is a great laser, which we use for skin resurfacing. It's a fractional ablative laser light, which means it creates small pixel size zones of control damage to the skin. When we deliver the laser energy. This means that unlike early resurfacing lasers, the laser does not ablate or remove the whole surface layer of the skin, the epidermis and upper dermis.
It simply vaporizes these layers in small like micro, tiny dots, which are then surrounded by undamaged skin during the treatment. These look like tiny dots of a white on the skin evenly spaced apart, like a pegboard, it kind of looks like a 16 by 16 dot peg board on that skin. And by leaving some areas undamaged around each of the dots, it speeds up the natural healing process. As the healthy tissues stimulate the repair of the damaged area. It sends an army of new skin cells called fibroblasts and new collagen and elastin is produced along with the production of growth factors and other things needed to repair the damage caused by the laser. Although this may sound counterintuitive to make more damage to heal the scar. It really isn't. As by destroying the unhealthy scar tissue, we're encouraging the body to repair and stimulate collagen and elastin production and make new healthy tissue in its place, which will have a drastically improved appearance.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can you do at home to help the efficacy of the treatment?
We like to recommend a retinol after the skin is completely healed. Retinol stimulates collagen production and generates new, slightly thicker skin over time. We can certainly make a recommendation, like our favorites: EltaMD’s Laser Enzyme Gel, Elta MD’s moisturizer for post-procedure healing, or the ZO SkinHealth Body Emulsion Cream. We have a couple of favorite retinols to use, as well as a little physical exfoliation dry brushing.
Who's a good candidate for this procedure?
Anyone bothered by their stretch marks or scars, makes a perfect candidate! The sooner you treat them the more success you’ll have minimizing them. So, you should expect to see 50 to 75% improvement in the appearance of your stretch marks.
After a few sessions, the laser delivers pulses of energy into the skin. Don’t worry, we have you numbed first tricking your skin into thinking that they're already injured.
What does it feel like? Is it painful?
Because you’re numbed, it actually feels kind of like pop rocks on the skin. It's completely tolerable.
How many treatments will it take?
Some people see results after the first treatment, but generally after three to four, there will be significant improvement with best results after the course of four to six sessions, every four weeks. And again, it's until you reach your desired results.
How long is the appointment?
The first appointment usually lasts about an hour, maybe an hour and 15. We like to gather as much information as possible, and then get photos to demonstrate your progress before and after.
Your consecutive visits last about 30 to 60 minutes, depending on how many areas we're treating and the extent of the stretch marks.
Will I have any downtime after my treatment?
Post-Treatment we'll want you to keep the area hydrated and out of the sun, of course post-treatment takes a little bit of time to heal. So you may expect some peeling and flaking of the area during this time. Those tiny little pixel dots are white during the treatment. They turn pink, red after. So you can expect to see that on your skin.
What does it cost?
We have a wide range of payment options. You can purchase them by the treatment or in a pocket or in a membership to save money. Next steps, just click the link below for more information.
Meet Kim:
My name is Kim and I'm a master esthetician and owner of Estetica Spa. I've been working in the skincare industry since 2007, and I love to share the progress we are seeing in science and technology in 2021, with results-driven skin treatments and products. I didn't get into the skincare industry because I love makeup or beauty. I'm passionate about giving people self confidence. I love hearing from my clients that they're seeing results from their treatments and home care regimen. That's my goal. ALWAYS!
Schedule a consultation in our spa for the latest and greatest treatments to solve any of your skin concerns.