How can I get rid of these mysterious lines that appear when I gain weight?

If you have been fat, or are still fat, then you may see stretch marks when you look down at your belly. What are stretch marks? Simply put, it is when the skin seems to be broken, with lines like earthworms appearing.

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Stretch marks are what we call them verbally. In medicine, there are several other names for them, such as expansion marks, traction marks, and atrophy marks. They all refer to the same phenomenon, just like a person has a full name and a nickname. If the stretch marks appear due to pregnancy, we also call them stretch marks. This kind of lines usually grow on the belly, but some people also have them on the waist, buttocks, thighs, armpits, and even breast area.

I believe that many people will be troubled by stretch marks. For example, for pregnant women, data shows that the proportion of stretch marks among pregnant women is as high as 43% to 88%. There are actually many problems with stretch marks, such as being difficult to prevent and difficult to treat.

In addition, many people have a question: why are stretch marks red for some people and white for others? Today, we will discuss some common questions.

Why do some people have red fat stretch marks?

Is anyone white?

Why do stretch marks have different colors? Simply put, this is because stretch marks are in different stages. They are generally red in the early stages and white in the later stages.

To expand, we need to talk about the mechanism of obesity. In essence, obesity is actually a scar caused by skin damage.

In the early stage, the main symptoms are redness, some may turn purple, and even feel edematous. The reason for this appearance is that there are some inflammatory reactions at the microscopic level. Inflammatory cells will participate in the reaction at the location of the lesion, and there will be damage to various proteins, including a decrease in the content of normal collagen, elastin and fibrillin, and disordered arrangement of collagen fibrils. This kind of early redness-based obesity stretch marks also have a special name, called red stretch marks.

After the red lines, they will progress to white lines, which, as the name suggests, means the color of the lines will become lighter. Not only that, there are also fine wrinkles and sunken scars, which appear as skin atrophy at a microscopic level. They are a type of atrophic scar, characterized by thinning of the epidermis and very little collagen in the dermis.

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In summary, the color change of stretch marks is a natural process and does not indicate any special problems. Just like stretch marks during pregnancy, they are usually red before giving birth and slowly turn white after giving birth.

Why do some people become obese while others do not?

Many people unfortunately have stretch marks, and they can't help but ask themselves: Why me? Unfortunately, sometimes we can't find the reason, and the reason may be "bad luck".

However, there are still some signs that some people develop stretch marks. Below, we will analyze some common unfavorable factors one by one for your reference:

1. Gender. A cruel fact is that if you only look at gender and ignore other aspects, if you are a woman, the probability of stretch marks is indeed higher than that of a man.

2. You or your relatives have had stretch marks. If you have had stretch marks once, even if it is a relative (such as your mother), the probability of stretch marks appearing again will be greater.

3. Pregnancy. It is easy to understand that pregnant women are more likely to develop obesity lines, also known as stretch marks, than non-pregnant women. In addition, there is another interesting point - if the gestational age is older, the fetus is heavier, or if you are pregnant with twins or multiple babies, you are more likely to have stretch marks.

4. Growing too fast. If your weight increases rapidly, including adults gaining weight or growing taller during puberty, you are more likely to develop stretch marks. If it is during puberty, we have another more pleasant name for it - growth marks.

5. Taking medicine. Taking certain medicines for a long time may cause weight gain or even redistribute fat in the skin, such as oral glucocorticoids. Such people are also more likely to develop wrinkles.

How to eliminate stretch marks?

So how can we get rid of stretch marks? Here, I have to pour a bucket of cold water, that is, there is no way to cure red and white lines. This is mainly because, whether it is red or white, they are irreversible changes in skin tissue. It is like some people have acne pits, and some people have wounds and scars.

Since there is no cure, are we helpless? Not really, in fact, there are many treatment methods now. However, the purpose of these treatment methods is not to cure or completely eliminate the red or white lines of stretch marks, but to improve or relieve them.

Specifically, the treatment options for red lines and white lines are different. The following table is a list of treatment measures that are more generally recognized as effective in the medical community and is for reference only.

The treatments for red and white lines show that some of the above treatments are generally too professional. Even the most classic treatments are medical aesthetics treatments, which cannot be cured by just applying some medicine. The external medications and products mentioned above, such as retinoic acid and silicone gel, are not very effective.

Here we would like to remind everyone that it is best to consult a doctor before deciding on the specific treatment. After all, different treatments have their pros and cons, especially some potential side effects. For example, retinoic acid drugs are not recommended during pregnancy and lactation. When using them, you should also pay attention to building tolerance to avoid skin irritation.

In addition, not treating it is actually an option. After all, stretch marks themselves are not painful or itchy, and do not affect health. If you can accept the fact that this is not very beautiful, then you can completely ignore it.

This is the end of the introduction to stretch marks. What to do with them depends on the decision you make in front of your phone.

References

[1] MayoClinic. Stretch marks. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stretch-marks/symptoms-causes/syc-20351139

[2] Amanda M. Oakley; Bhupendra C. Patel. Stretch Marks. StatPearls [Internet]. 2023. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK436005/

[3] Striae distensae (stretch marks). UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/striae-distensae-stretch-marks

Author: Tang Jiaoqing, attending physician of dermatology, doctor of medicine, popular science author

Review | Feng Jun, deputy chief physician of the Dermatology Department of Sinopharm Tongmei General Hospital