About stretch marks
Stretch Marks basically look like cracks in the skin caused by the breaking down of skin's connective tissue in deep skin layer (dermis) due to the loss of collagen and Elastin. Many start with red or purple raised lines (caused by micro blood vessels breaking up and bleeding) later fade to silver shiny streaks. Others start with tiny silver lines, extending and spreading to longer, deeper and wider streaks. Many people described them as appearing out of no where just overnight. That is because stretch marks start from the dermis the underlying skin area and gradually develop to the skin surface, so even if they seem to appear overnight, there really is a process. They are very visible especially on darker skin.

Stretch marks can be massive and cover a great deal of skin. They are almost impossible to cover up with make up. Specially made concealers can sometimes reduce the discolorations, but the indentations with width and length are impossible to fill with make up can sometimes reduce the discolorations, but the indentations with width and length are impossible to fill with make up.

Pregnancy
Growth spur for adolescent boys and girls
Rapid weight gain/loss,
Extreme body building
Depression or anxiety (unhappy, stressed and depressed people are more likely to get stretch marks)
Long term lack of proper nutrition
Going through a crush diet
Sudden changes in physical or environmental conditions.
Certain medications. See below for details
Certain contraception choices. See below for more details.

What are the common causes for stretch marks
How to reduce the chance of developing them
Stretch marks problem is still a mystery to most of us. I am not a doctor. I know stretch marks from personal experience and I learned more from 10s of thousands of correspondences with stretch marks victim in years of keeping this website.

Stretch marks happen to men and women, fat and thin, young and old. I have heard from as young as 8 years old who developed stretch marks as she started to grow bigger and taller. In most cases they don't hurt or irritate physically. The most damage they do are on the image and self esteem, which could be really tough especially for none-pregnancy related stretch marks, such as teenage stretch marks. 

Stretch marks usually don't just fade on their own, instead, they tend to worsen and expand over time. If they expand, they can literally cover your whole body and 2 persons told me that they got them on the face! Can you imagine that?

Stretch marks are commonly caused by abnormal hormonal activities. Some of which are out of our control, such as being pregnant. Other times if we pay attention to small things we can greatly reduce our chances of getting them.

I have come to conclude that the direct causes for stretch marks are mostly hormonal. Though stretching of the skin certainly can trigger it, in many cases it does not directly involve any stretching at all. In fact, besides pregnant women and over weight people, it is very common among teenagers, and happens to man quite often, too. If you are going through one or more of these hormone changing experiences be very careful.

(From the thousands of emails I get through the past years regarding stretch marks, some of the most depressing stories are from people with stretch marks caused by medications (hormonal, steroids related). Here is a list* for reference only of a few medications that may cause severe stretch marks. The list which was compiled by emails from readers only was never investigated by the author. Please Never stop your medications without your doctors orders.)

Prednisone

Prescribed for lupus, Nephrotic Syndrome--kidney problem; skin conditions, asthma and a wide range of diseases.

However, I have heard about doctors who would prescribe it for minor skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis and the patients sometimes end up with even more problematic skin.

For eczema and psoriasis, besides following your doctors advice, if you want to help with the conditions, try detoxification the natural way, and use the natural remedy described here to help relieve symptoms.

Dianette
Birth Control for woman. Some women wrote me about "stretch marks coming from nowhere" after they use it.

Mometasone Furoate cream Also Known as Elocon
(A type of skin lotion prescribed for skin conditions)

Depo Provera
Birth control shot. Please note that any medication that affects hormonal activities could potentially cause some people stretch marks, including many forms of birth control methods. You might want to opt for the pills instead of shots. Talk with your doctor first.

Corticosteroid such as Methyl prednisone Dospak

Some anti depression medications
May also cause stretch marks. It is also my understanding that depression itself could be linked to skin disorders such as acne and stretch marks.

Hello:
I have severe to moderate stretch marks all over my body. I have been on many medications for my skin conditions (eczema and acne). Many forms of prednisone and cortisones including the one you mentioned (Elocon). I even was on Depo Provera. At the time I had no idea these medications would do this to me. When I was on the medication I would have to wear stretch pants and jeans to protect my skin from rubbing up against something and literally peeling off. I went into the doctors with a moderate problem of eczema and ended up with a severe case of eczema and secondary infections and what I found most helpful after all of that was to stay away from medicines that would thin my skin and other simple solutions. After all of that treatment I have scars from scratches, acne, stretch marks from pregnancies and around my breast from being ignored. I have been building back my skin for 2 years and I'm excited to try your product.

Sincerely,

Sara Friedman

I just noticed that there are something like stretching marks on my son's back. I searched on internet and tried to find what it is and what might cause these marks. I am glad I found you web site.

Here is my son's story. He is a 16 years old student. I noticed that these stretching mark like skin appeared on his back about three weeks ago. He told me he didn't do any weight lifting, over stretched exercise or any physical movement that may cause the stretching marks. The only thing I can think of is he has been taking Zoloft which is an anti depression medicine for about five months. After I read you web site, I wonder if the medicine cause these strange stretch marks. Have you heard similar story before ? I would like to give you my son's story for information. Can you share the other information you have? Thanks

Hi,

I did a search for stretch marks cure and yours was the first website I stumbled upon. I expected to see a bunch of gimmicky "too good to be true" advertising first. I mean, yours also seems "too good to be true" but without the flashy gimmicks, and with real stories. I apologize, I'm always pretty skeptical when it comes to this kind of thing, I've always heard that stretch marks are incurable as well. My mother told me the same thing. But something brought me to search anyway - my desperation. So I'll push past the skepticism to hope.

After reading through your site and seeing your requests for such stories, I decided to write you my own.

Growing up, I was always the skinny girl, "stick figure", the one that got teased for being "anorexic" or "on drugs" - neither of which were ever true. I was just short, petite and thin. No matter how much I ate I stayed that way. A slow developer, I finally hit puberty at 17 and slowly from that point over the next 5 years or so my body filled out a bit to a less "twiggy" look. I finally liked my body. Sure, there are always things women would change about themselves, but that's not the point. I worked really hard to develop my self esteem, confidence and self-worth. I did a good job, too. I became a confident young woman proud of myself and how I looked.

Fast forward to this year, I'm now 27 years old. No husband yet, no kids, no pregnancies. Until recently still quite happy with myself and the search of the right man to enter my life and start a family of my own. I talk to my doctor about birth control - no matter what I do I just can't remember to take the pill so I start taking Depo Provera shots. They said the main risk with short term use (under 2 years) is maybe 5-lbs weight gain. I agreed to do it because obviously I wasn't concerned with 5 extra pounds. Shortly thereafter, I start having unrelated shoulder/arm pain, numbness, tingling, weakness. After months of treatment and such, I finally have an MRI and they find some disc herniation in my neck. In late May & mid June I have steroids injections to alleviate the pain that had been plaguing me. At first, I was quite pleased, the pain was gone.

However, just before I went in to have the second injection, a few people in my family told me my face looked puffy & round and wondered why. Really? I'd say, I hadn't noticed. I thought nothing of it at first and had my second injection. Shortly thereafter, I gained a lot of weight - about 18lbs. Now, I know what many think about this - "That's all?!" - but to my 115 lb, 5'3" body, yes that's A LOT! It was as if overnight I got chubby. I got tummy rolls, fat thighs and a bigger butt all with cellulite. I couldn't fit in my clothes! What was I going to wear to work?? It was awful. Now, there were, and still are, many other side effects from the medication as well that are irrelevant to this discussion, but nonetheless wreaking havoc on my body and my mind every day for the last 2+ months. My boyfriend at the time would make rude comments about my weight that were really hurtful. Needless to say, I left him.

Anyway, to the stretch marks, about a week and half ago, I was in the bathroom getting ready for work. I have two mirrors so I can see the back of my hair when I style it. I noticed something in the mirror behind me out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look closer - I had pink/red marks all over my butt! I was devastated. I thought this only happened to pregnant women on their stomachs and breasts. I am a small girl, I shouldn't have stretch marks. I stayed in denial about it for a few days, tried to forget it. After all, what could I do about it anyway? Yesterday, I noticed the mirror behind me again, now they're traveling down my thighs. I couldn't stop myself from thinking, how am I going to get a man looking like this?! - I'm fat and covered with stretch marks - who will want me? It was horrible hearing myself say this because I've always been so happy with who I am, but I'm not myself anymore whatsoever, and I'm dying to get my body back.

I figured the stretch marks were a result of the weight gain, but now, I've read your website and I see that it could be a result of two medications I'm on and neither doctor told me about this possibility - not to mention the multitude of other side effects I've been experiencing. I had no warning and now there's nothing I can do but wait and hope they go away.

That is, of course, except for the stretch marks. Your site has given me some hope. The marks are still red and new. I will try your product and I will pray it will work. As you say, it is not because I'm superficial, but because I know this isn't me, because I don't feel right. Because my self esteem I spent all this time building is gone. Because I feel unnecessarily embarrassed of myself and I HATE that I feel this way. Because I have to fight getting teary as I write this.

Oh, I hope so much that this product works - on the stretch marks and perhaps the cellulite. Next, hopefully the rest will wear off naturally in time as the doctors indicate. Then I can once again be at peace with my body, and feel confident in life and relationships.

I HOPE."