Collagen is a protein that makes up the connective tissue in your skin. Collagen is responsible, at least in part, for the elasticity of your skin. In other words, collagen helps your skin to stretch as it is needed. However, when a person’s skin becomes stretched too far, such as may happen during a time of rapid weight gain or loss, such as may occur during pregnancy, the regular rate of production of collagen is interfered with. This results in the skin not being as elastic in that area. In turn, then, the skin will actually tear. When this happens, the skin will scar in the form of a stretch mark.

Stretch marks will vary in appearance based on the tone of your skin. Stretch marks may start out as pinkish, a red-brown color, brown, or dark brown streaks on your skin. Over time, stretch marks will fade in color to be lighter than your skin color, and will also generally have something of a silvery sheen or covering to them.

There may be things that you can do to help reduce the occurrence of stretch marks, or to lessen their impact. Some women, for example, have used laser therapy that helps spur the body to produce collagen, which restores the elasticity of the skin in the stretch mark area. In addition, it is thought that laser therapy can help to improve the actual quality of the collagen, and can help to reduce the inflammation that often occurs. There are herbal remedies that you can use to try to prevent stretch marks. These products tend to rely on things like cocoa butter, chamomile, and Vitamin E to help prevent stretch marks. Even if these remedies do not prevent stretch marks, they may speed up the healing process and help your stretch marks to become less visible over time.

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