Monday, January 12, 2009

Stretch Marks Surgery

Despite the claims of many practitioners, there is no evidence to support any claim that surgery can remove or reduce stretch marks, or as they are known in medical circles, striae distensae. Surgery is in fact a very expensive and possibly risky route to take when dealing with striae scarring, especially now that there is several very effective topical treatments on the market. However, we get so many enquiries every day about this subject I thought I'd jot down my findings on the subject of stretch mark surgery.

Surgical options for striae scarring consists of laser surgery, microdermabrasion, and the tummy tuck. Results for all these procedures will vary depending on age, skin type, and overall health, but below you'll find what to generally expect with these three procedures.

Laser surgery
Practitioners of laser surgery claim that this method stimulates the production of collagen in the dermis, effectively filling the stretch marks in from below. Laser stretch mark surgery users have reported varying pain levels from the procedure, with some reporting no pain at all, and others saying it was very painful. The procedure can be costly, up to $1000 dollars a session, and you may require several sessions. Critics of this procedure claim that lasers cannot stimulate collagen at all, they only remove outer layers of skin and tissue, effectively changing the appearance of the scarring, but not repairing it in any way.

Microdermabrasion
Microdermabrasion is a procedure where small crystals of aluminium oxide or other elements are sprayed onto the skin to effectively 'sand away' the outer layers of dead skin. This causes new, healthy skin to be produced where the old dead cells were scrubbed away. It is claimed this helps reduce the appearance of stretch marks.
Critics of microdermabrasion as a stretch mark surgery counter that this procedure only affects the outer layers of skin, the epidermis, while stretch mark scars reside in a lower layer, the dermis. This procedure varies wildly in price, with some small clinics provide it relatively cheaply for a few hundred dollars, while some day spas and health and beauty clinics charge thousands.

Tummy Tuck
The tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, is the only guaranteed stretch mark surgery to rid the body of scarring. This is because an area of the skin of the lower abdomen is completely removed, along with an amount of fat and tissue, then the skin is reattached. Any marks on the skin removed end up excised from the body. The major downside of this procedure is that it only removes marks on the lower abdomen, specifically the area below the navel, so if you have marks on the legs, buttocks or breasts, you are out of luck. It is also expensive, painful, and is a major surgery requiring a hospital stay and all the other risks associated with a surgical procedure.

Do you want to get rid of ugly stretch marks or prevent them from occuring? We offer honest and unbiased reviews of the top stretch mark treatments available today. Visit us to learn how you can reduce or prevent the appearance of stretch marks quickly and effectively.

Click here to check out our tips and reviews.

0 comments: