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We must look into the skin to really understand what stretch marks are.

The skin of composed of a connective network formed by elastin and collagen. The main thing to understand is that elastin is a protein that allows our skin to be stretched to a certain degree and then snaps back to normal. Once stretch marks have appeared it actually means that the elastin has been damaged.

Normal skin, during or after an “injury”(any type of damage to the skin), is replaced by a scar. In this case, the scars are built to quickly reconnect elastin and collagen skin fibres. Stretch marks are a consequence of a stretching that wounds the skin because that skin cannot endure the stretching of the skin. A stretch mark is a result of a weakening of the “skin network”, which includes the cells and the connective fibre tissues in between the first and second later of skin. A stretch mark is a scar that, even though it may seem as if it were ON your skin, is actually found UNDERNEATH it, in other words a stretch mark is a linear artophic lesion.

It is also necessary to understand what occurs at the level of the elastin fibres and collagen network. Elastin Fibers are an important part of the skin network. Elastin fibers can be pulled to grow up to 1.5 times their size and then once untensed can move back to the original size. It may occur that once the skin is unstretched and goes back into its original state, it may leave you with a stretch mark.

How Stretch Marks are Formed

In the end stretch marks are damaged tissue, this stimulates the fibrocytes and end up with the mitosis of fibroblasts.

This process of mitosis may leave you with a group of stretch marks instead of just one. But the “stretching of the skin”, is not the only association one can make to stretch marks. “Stretch marks” may come to be for many different factors.

* The mechanical factors that are usually related to the skin’s sensitivity are weight gain, pregnancy and growth.

* Another factor is also the endocrine. This factor is due to malfunction of the pituitary-hypothalamic complex. This may lead to a dis regulation of cortisol, which is what causes the collagen network to weaken.

* Artificially induced factors are those that have to do with corticoids treatments.

* There exists a metabolic factor that presents itself as glycation or a sugar metabolism disorder. This factor inhibits the biosynthesis activity of the fibroblasts also known as “the Millard reaction”, which leads to the reduction of skin elasticity.

So hormones and hormonal production can cause stretch marks as much as weight gain or growth. The ways you can get a stretch mark are many yet, but the outcome is the same; a pale, elongated line under your skin, that shows itself immune to most stretch marks removal.

Natural biological enzymes contained in an amazing product are especially recommended for stretch marks treatment.

- Marlyn Whipple

Tags: natural, skin, weight, Weight Loss

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This entry was posted on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at 5:04 am and is filed under Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.