Why Do We Get Stretch Marks on Skin

Most people first notice stretch marks by accident. They catch sight of thin lines on their hips, stomach, thighs, or upper arms in a mirror, and they wonder when those lines appeared and why. The lines were not there a year ago, and there was no cut, no injury, and no pain to explain them. Yet there they are, sometimes pink or purple, sometimes pale silver, running across the skin like faint streaks. Stretch marks are very common. They appear in teenagers going through a growth spurt, in pregnant women, in people who have gained weight quickly, and in people who have built muscle fast. They are not a sign of illness, and they are not caused by poor hygiene or by anything a person did wrong. They are a sign that the skin was stretched faster than its deeper layer could keep up with, and that a small number of tiny fibres inside the skin gave way under the strain.

To understand why this happens, it helps to picture skin as a fabric with some stretch in it. The outer layer, the part you see, is thin and renews itself constantly. The layer underneath, called the dermis, is thicker and stronger. It is made of a mesh of two kinds of fibres: collagen, which gives skin its strength, and elastin, which gives it its spring, the ability to stretch and then return to shape. When skin stretches slowly, over months or years, the dermis has time to make more fibres and to adjust. The mesh grows, the skin expands, and no harm is done. But when skin stretches quickly, over a few weeks or months, the dermis cannot make new fibres fast enough. The existing fibres are pulled beyond what they can bear, and some of them snap. Those tiny tears, deep under the surface, are what we see as stretch marks.

How Skin Stretches and When It Cannot Keep Up

Skin is built to stretch. It has to be, because the body underneath it changes shape all the time. When you bend your arm, the skin on the inside of your elbow folds and the skin on the outside stretches. When you eat a large meal, the skin on your stomach stretches a little and then settles back. When you breathe in deeply, the skin on your chest moves. All of this is normal, and the elastic fibres in the dermis handle it easily, because the stretching is small and temporary. The skin returns to its usual shape as soon as the movement ends, and no fibres are damaged.

Problems begin when the stretching is large and lasts for weeks. The body underneath the skin is growing or expanding, and the skin has to cover a bigger area than it did before. The dermis tries to keep up by making new collagen and elastin, but making fibres takes time, and the body can only make them so fast. If the growth is faster than the fibre-making, the mesh is pulled tight, the fibres thin out, and eventually some of them break. It is a little like a knitted jumper that is pulled too hard: the wool stretches, the stitches thin out, and if the pull goes on, a few threads snap and a ladder appears in the knitting. The skin does not tear open on the surface, because the outer layer is more flexible and stays intact, but the damage underneath shows through as a line.

How fast is too fast? That depends on the person. Some people’s skin is naturally more elastic than others, and some people’s bodies make collagen more quickly. Age matters too. Young skin is more elastic, but it is also growing fast, which is why teenagers get stretch marks during growth spurts. Older skin is less elastic, so it tears more easily, but older people are less likely to be growing quickly, so they get stretch marks less often. The balance between how fast the body grows and how fast the skin can adjust is different for everyone, and that is why two people can go through the same change and only one of them gets stretch marks.

It is also worth knowing that stretch marks do not appear on the day the stretching starts. They usually show up weeks or months after the growth began, because the fibres weaken gradually and the marks become visible only once enough of them have torn. That is why a teenager may notice stretch marks on their back or hips long after the growth spurt that caused them, and why a pregnant woman may notice them in the later months, even though her body has been changing since the early weeks. The delay can make the cause hard to see, but the link is usually there if you look back over the previous months.

Growth Spurts: Why Teenagers Get Stretch Marks

Teenagers are one of the groups most likely to get stretch marks, and the reason is simple: they grow very fast. During puberty, a child can grow several centimetres in a single year, and the bones, muscles, and fat under the skin all expand at the same time. The skin has to cover a body that is changing shape in almost every direction. Boys often get stretch marks on their shoulders, upper arms, and lower back, because those are the areas that broaden and lengthen fastest. Girls often get them on their hips, thighs, and breasts, because those are the areas that change most during puberty.

These marks can be upsetting for a teenager, because they appear at an age when how you look feels very important, and because they often appear in places that feel private. A boy who notices red lines across his lower back may worry that something is wrong with him. A girl who notices lines on her hips may feel embarrassed in a swimming costume. It helps to know that these marks are extremely common in teenagers, and that most teenagers have at least a few, even if they never talk about them. They are not caused by anything the teenager did, and they are not a sign of being overweight or unhealthy. They are a normal part of growing fast.

The marks that appear in the teenage years also tend to fade more than most, because young skin heals and remodels well. A red or purple line that looks obvious at fifteen may be a faint silver line at twenty, and barely noticeable at twenty-five. The colour fades first, and the texture softens slowly after that. The skin does not go back to exactly how it was before, because the torn fibres are not fully replaced, but the mark becomes much less visible. For most teenagers, the best approach is patience, and the knowledge that they are far from alone in having these marks.

Parents can help by treating stretch marks as normal, not as a problem to be fixed. A teenager who is told that their marks are ugly, or that they need a cream to remove them, will feel worse about a normal part of growing up. A teenager who is told that the marks are common, that they fade, and that almost everyone has them will usually accept them far more easily. The words used around stretch marks matter, especially at an age when confidence is still forming.

Pregnancy, Weight Change and Fast Muscle Growth

Pregnancy is the best-known cause of stretch marks, and it shows clearly how stretching works. As a baby grows, the skin on the stomach has to expand a great deal over nine months, and the breasts and hips also change shape. The stretching is steady, but it is also large, and for many women the skin cannot keep up, especially in the later months when growth is fastest. The marks usually appear on the stomach, and often on the breasts, hips, and thighs as well. They are so common in pregnancy that they are considered a normal part of the experience, not a complication.

Hormones also play a part in pregnancy. During pregnancy, the body produces hormones that soften the fibres in the skin, making them more stretchy but also weaker. This softening is useful, because it lets the body expand more easily, but it also means the fibres are more likely to tear when they are pulled. That is one reason stretch marks in pregnancy can appear even when the weight gain has been steady and moderate. It is not only about how much the skin stretches, but about how strong the fibres are while it stretches.

Rapid weight gain is another common cause, at any age. When a person gains a lot of weight in a short time, the skin on the stomach, hips, thighs, and upper arms has to expand quickly, and the same tearing can happen. Rapid weight loss can also make existing stretch marks more visible, because the skin loosens and the lines that were stretched flat become more obvious as the skin folds. This is not a reason to avoid losing weight, but it is a reason to lose it gradually when possible, giving the skin time to adjust as the body underneath shrinks.

Fast muscle growth can cause stretch marks too, especially in people who lift heavy weights and build muscle quickly. The shoulders, upper arms, and chest are the usual places, because those muscles grow fastest. A young man who starts training hard and gains muscle in a few months may notice red lines across his shoulders or biceps. These are the same kind of marks, caused by the same process: the body underneath grew faster than the skin could adjust. They are not a sign of injury to the muscle, and they do not mean the training was wrong. They are simply the skin showing the speed of the change.

Why Stretch Marks Look Red First and Pale Later

The colour of a stretch mark tells you how old it is. A new stretch mark is usually red, pink, or purple, and it may feel slightly raised or itchy. The colour comes from blood. When the fibres in the dermis tear, small blood vessels in the area are stretched and irritated, and the skin over the tear is thinner than the skin around it, so the blood underneath shows through more clearly. The redness is not a sign of infection. It is a sign that the area is newly damaged and that the body is sending blood to it as part of the repair.

Over months, the colour changes. The extra blood vessels close down, the inflammation settles, and the mark fades from red to pink, then to a pale silvery white. This is the stage most stretch marks reach, and it is the stage they usually stay in. A pale stretch mark is an old mark. The fibres have torn, the body has laid down a thin layer of new collagen to patch the tear, and the repair is finished. The patch is paler than the skin around it because it has fewer of the cells that make skin colour, and because the new collagen is laid down in a flatter, smoother way than the original mesh.

The final colour depends on skin tone. On very fair skin, an old stretch mark may look silvery white and be quite noticeable in sunlight, because the pale line stands out against the skin. On medium skin, it may look slightly lighter than the surrounding skin. On darker skin, a new stretch mark may look darker than the skin around it, and an old one may look lighter. These differences are normal, and they do not mean the mark is healing badly. They are simply the way different skin tones show the same repair.

The surface of a stretch mark also changes over time. A new mark may feel slightly raised or rough, and it may itch. An old mark usually feels smooth, and it may feel slightly hollow or dented when you run a finger over it, because the skin there is thinner than the skin around it. The mark does not grow hair in the same way, and it does not tan in the same way, because the new tissue does not have the same structure as normal skin. In the sun, a pale stretch mark may stand out more, because the skin around it darkens while the mark stays pale. That is why many people notice their stretch marks most in summer.

Why Some People Get Them and Others Do Not

If stretch marks were only about how fast the body grows, everyone who grew fast would get them, and everyone who grew slowly would not. But that is not what happens. Some people go through pregnancy or a big growth spurt without a single mark, while others get many marks from a much smaller change. The difference lies in the skin itself, and much of that difference is inherited. The strength and elasticity of your skin depend on the genes you received from your parents, and those genes decide how much collagen and elastin your skin makes, and how strong those fibres are.

Family history is often a good clue. If your mother had many stretch marks in pregnancy, you are more likely to get them too. If your parents both have stretch marks from their teenage years, you are more likely to get them during your own growth spurt. This is not a certainty, only a tendency, but it is a real one, and it explains why stretch marks can run in families in the same way that height or hair colour does.

Other factors affect the skin’s strength as well. Skin that is well hydrated and well nourished is more elastic than skin that is dry and underfed, because the fibres need water and nutrients to stay supple. A person who drinks very little water, eats very little protein, or lacks certain vitamins may have skin that tears more easily, although this is only one part of the picture and it is not the main cause. Long-term use of certain skin creams that thin the skin can also make stretch marks more likely, because thinner skin has less fibre to resist the pull. This is a lesser-known cause, and it is one reason such creams should only be used as directed by a health professional.

Age also affects the odds. Young skin is more elastic, which helps, but young bodies also grow faster, which hurts. Older skin is less elastic, but older bodies grow more slowly. The highest risk is in the teenage years and in pregnancy, when fast growth and hormonal changes come together. After that, the risk falls, although rapid weight gain or rapid muscle growth can bring it back at any age. There is no way to know for certain whether you will get stretch marks, and no way to guarantee that you will not. The skin you have is the skin you have, and it will respond to stretching in its own way.

What Stretch Marks Are Not

It is worth clearing up some misunderstandings, because stretch marks attract a lot of false claims. First, stretch marks are not caused by poor hygiene, by not washing, or by eating the wrong food. They are caused by stretching and by the strength of the fibres in the skin. No amount of washing or scrubbing can prevent them, and scrubbing the skin hard can actually irritate it and make it worse. Stretch marks are not a sign that a person is dirty or careless.

Second, stretch marks are not a sign of illness. They do not mean the body is sick, and they do not turn into anything dangerous. They are a normal response of normal skin to fast stretching. They do not spread like a rash, they do not become infected on their own, and they do not cause pain in the way a wound does. A new stretch mark may itch, but it is not a wound, and it does not need to be treated like one.

Third, stretch marks are not only a women’s issue, and they are not only about pregnancy. Men get them too, especially during teenage growth spurts and during fast muscle growth. Boys who grow tall quickly often have them on their backs and shoulders. Men who gain weight quickly often have them on their stomachs. The idea that stretch marks are something only women need to worry about is wrong, and it stops many men from understanding a normal part of their own bodies.

Fourth, stretch marks are not caused by a single food, a single habit, or a single mistake. People sometimes blame a stretch mark on eating too much, on not exercising, or on a cream they used once. In truth, stretch marks come from a combination of fast growth, hormones, and the natural strength of a person’s skin. Blaming yourself for them is not fair, and it is not accurate. The body grew, the skin stretched, and some fibres gave way. That is the whole story, and it is a story that happens to most people at some point in their lives.

Can You Prevent Stretch Marks or Make Them Fade

This is the question most people want answered, and the honest answer is mixed. There is no proven way to prevent stretch marks completely. If your body is going to grow fast, and your skin is the kind that tears easily, marks may appear no matter what you do. That is hard to hear, because it feels like there should be something you can do, but it is the truth, and it is better to hear it plainly than to spend money on promises that do not work.

That said, there are sensible habits that may help a little, and they are the same habits that keep skin healthy in general. Keeping the skin moisturised can help it stay supple, and supple skin stretches a little more easily than dry skin. Drinking enough water and eating a varied diet with enough protein gives the body the material it needs to make collagen and elastin. Gaining weight gradually, rather than in a sudden rush, gives the skin more time to adjust. These habits do not guarantee that stretch marks will not appear, but they give the skin its best chance, and they are good for the body in other ways too.

Many creams and oils claim to prevent or erase stretch marks, and it is worth being careful about these claims. Some products can make the skin feel softer and less itchy, which is a real benefit, especially for a new mark that is irritated. But no cream has been proven to stop the fibres in the deep layer of skin from tearing, because a cream sits on the surface and the tearing happens underneath. The same is true of creams that claim to erase old marks. An old stretch mark is a patch of new collagen deep in the skin, and no surface cream can rebuild the original mesh of fibres. Some treatments offered in clinics can make marks look a little less obvious, but they do not remove them completely, and they are not suitable for everyone. Anyone considering such a treatment should discuss it with a health professional first.

What does help, more than anything else, is time. New stretch marks fade. The red or purple colour softens over months, and the mark becomes paler and flatter. After a year or two, most stretch marks are much less noticeable than they were at first. They do not disappear entirely, and they will still be there if you look closely, but they stop drawing the eye in the way a new mark does. For most people, that fading, combined with the knowledge that the marks are normal and very common, is enough to make peace with them.

Living With Stretch Marks

Stretch marks are common, they are harmless, and they fade, but that does not mean they are easy to live with. How we feel about our skin affects how we feel about ourselves, and a mark on a visible part of the body can affect confidence, especially in summer, at the beach, or in a changing room. A teenager may avoid swimming because of marks on their hips. A new mother may feel self-conscious about marks on her stomach. A man who has built muscle may feel that marks on his shoulders spoil the result he worked for. These feelings are real, and they deserve to be taken seriously, even though the marks themselves are harmless.

It helps to remember how common stretch marks are. Most adults have at least a few, even if they are hidden by clothing. Most women who have been pregnant have them. Most teenagers have them. Most people who have gained or lost a lot of weight have them. When something is this common, it is not a flaw that sets you apart. It is a normal part of having a body that changes, grows, and lives. The pictures we see in advertising, where skin is always smooth and unmarked, are not real life. They are edited, lit, and posed to hide exactly the marks that most real people have.

There is also a practical side to living with stretch marks. Protecting them from strong sun helps, because a pale mark stands out more when the skin around it tans, and because new marks can darken in the sun. Keeping the skin moisturised can reduce itching, especially for new marks. Wearing clothes that feel comfortable, rather than clothes chosen only to hide the marks, can help confidence more than hiding does, because hiding often makes a person think about the marks more, not less. And talking about them, with a friend, a partner, or a family member, often helps more than expected, because it usually turns out that the other person has them too.

In the end, a stretch mark is a record of a change. It may record a growth spurt, a pregnancy, a period of weight gain, or a season of hard training. Those changes are part of a life, and the marks they leave are part of that life too. They do not need to be loved, and it is fine to wish they were less visible. But they do not need to be hidden in shame either. They are ordinary, they are common, and they are a sign that the body grew, stretched, and adapted, which is what bodies are meant to do.

My Take:

When I think about stretch marks, the first thing I feel is that we are far too hard on ourselves about them. A person looks in a mirror, sees a few thin lines on their hips or stomach, and at once thinks something has gone wrong. But nothing has gone wrong. The body grew, the skin stretched, and a few tiny fibres underneath gave way because they could not stretch fast enough. That is not a failure. It is a normal result of a body doing what bodies do: growing, changing, carrying a child, gaining weight, building muscle. I think we should be kinder to ourselves about marks that are simply the record of those changes, and I think we should be honest about how common they are, because that honesty takes away much of the shame.

I think the reason stretch marks upset people is not the marks themselves, but the picture of skin we are given everywhere else. In advertisements, in films, in photographs on social media, skin is always smooth, even, and unmarked. There are no lines on a stomach, no streaks on hips, no marks on shoulders. But that skin is not real. It is lit, posed, and edited to remove exactly the things that real skin has. Real skin has marks. It has spots, lines, scars, and stretch marks, because real bodies grow, fall, heal, and change. When we compare our real skin with an edited picture, we will always feel that we fall short, and that comparison is not fair. I would rather compare my skin with the skin of real people I know, and when I do that, I see that almost everyone has stretch marks somewhere, even if they never talk about them.

There is something else I want to say about teenagers, because they are the ones who feel this most sharply. A teenager who notices stretch marks on their back or hips is at an age when how they look feels like the most important thing in the world, and a new mark can feel like a disaster. I think adults should take that feeling seriously, and not laugh it off or say it does not matter, because to the teenager it does matter. But I also think adults should tell the truth: that the marks are normal, that most teenagers have them, that they fade, and that they are not caused by anything the teenager did wrong. A few honest words at the right time can save a young person years of worrying about something that is simply part of growing up. I wish more adults said those words, plainly and early, instead of leaving teenagers to find out alone.

I also think we should be honest about prevention, because a lot of money is spent on creams and oils that promise to stop stretch marks from appearing. I understand why people buy them. A pregnant woman who is told that a cream will protect her skin will want to try it, and the cream itself is usually harmless. But I think it is better to know the truth: no cream has been proven to stop the fibres deep in the skin from tearing, because the cream stays on the surface and the tearing happens underneath. Moisturising the skin can help it feel softer and less itchy, and that is a real benefit, but it is not the same as preventing the marks. I would rather a person spend their money on good food, enough water, and rest, which help the whole body, than on a product that promises something it cannot deliver.

That does not mean I think people should simply accept stretch marks without question. It is natural to wish they were less visible, and it is natural to want to do something about them. My point is that the something worth doing is the simple, honest thing: give them time, keep the skin moisturised, protect them from strong sun, and let the colour fade over months. A new red mark will look very different in a year. It will be paler, flatter, and much less noticeable. That fading is real, and it happens without any product, because the body slowly finishes its repair and the extra blood vessels close down. Patience is not an exciting answer, but for stretch marks it is the most honest one.

I want to say something about pregnancy, because that is where stretch marks are most talked about, and where the pressure is greatest. A woman who has carried a child for nine months has done something remarkable, and her body has changed in many ways to make that possible. Stretch marks on her stomach are part of that change, a record of the skin expanding to make room for a growing baby. I think it is sad that instead of being seen as part of that story, they are often treated as damage to be fixed, as if the body should return to exactly how it was before, as if the pregnancy never happened. I do not think that is a fair way to look at it. A body that has grown a child is not a damaged body. It is a body that has done its work, and the marks it carries are part of that work. I would rather we talked about stretch marks in pregnancy with respect than with embarrassment.

The same is true for people who have gained weight and then lost it, or who have built muscle through hard training. A stretch mark on a shoulder after months of lifting weights is a sign that the muscle underneath grew quickly. A stretch mark on a stomach after weight gain is a sign that the body changed. These are not marks of laziness or of failure. They are marks of a body that changed shape, and bodies change shape all through life. I think we should stop treating every change in the body as a problem to be solved, and start treating some of them as simply part of living in a body that is always moving, growing, and adjusting.

I also think about the quiet side of this, the way stretch marks affect confidence in small, everyday ways. A person may avoid a swimming pool, or choose a different shirt, or feel nervous in a changing room, all because of a few lines on their skin. These are small decisions, but they add up, and they can make a person feel smaller in their own life. I think the way out of that is not to hide the marks more carefully, but to remember how many other people have them, and to notice that nobody else is looking at your skin as closely as you are. Most people are too busy worrying about their own marks to notice yours. That is not a cruel thought. It is a freeing one. The marks that feel enormous to you are usually barely noticed by anyone else, and the people who matter will not think less of you for them.

So my final view is this. Stretch marks happen when skin stretches faster than the fibres in its deeper layer can keep up with, and some of those fibres tear. They appear in teenagers, in pregnancy, in fast weight gain, and in fast muscle growth. They are very common, they are harmless, and they fade over time from red to pale, even though they do not vanish completely. No cream can reliably prevent them or erase them, and the best habits are the simple ones: keep the skin moisturised, drink enough water, eat well, and change weight gradually when you can. And beyond the practical advice, I would say this: a stretch mark is not a flaw. It is a line left by a change, and changes are what a life is made of. A body that has grown, carried, gained, lost, and trained will have marks, and that is not something to be ashamed of. It is something to accept, calmly, as part of having lived in that body.

If a friend showed me their stretch marks and asked what I thought, I would tell them the truth first: that the marks are normal, that most people have them, and that they will fade a lot over the next year. I would tell them not to waste money on a cream that promises to erase them, and to keep the skin moisturised and out of strong sun instead. And then I would say the thing I believe most strongly about this. I would say that their body is not a picture, and it does not need to look like one. It is a living thing that has grown and changed, and the lines on it are part of that story. A stretch mark does not make a person less attractive, less healthy, or less worthy of feeling good in their own skin. It makes them normal, and normal is a good thing to be.

I also think about how differently we treat marks that come from effort and marks that come from growth, and I find that difference strange. A person who trains hard and gets stretch marks on their shoulders is often told those marks are a sign of progress, proof that the muscle underneath grew. But a teenager who grows fast and gets marks on their back is told to hide them, and a mother who carries a child and gets marks on her stomach is told to fix them. The marks are the same kind of lines, made by the same process, in the same layer of skin. Only the story behind them is different, and the story should not decide whether a mark is a badge or a flaw. If a line left by muscle growth can be a sign of strength, then a line left by growing up, or by carrying a child, can be a sign of strength too. I think we should apply the same kindness to all of them, instead of praising one kind of change and shaming another.

There is another point I want to make, about the way we talk about bodies that change shape. A body is not a fixed object. It grows in childhood, changes in the teenage years, expands in pregnancy, gains and loses weight, builds muscle, and slowly changes again with age. At every stage, the skin has to stretch, fold, and adjust to cover what is underneath. Sometimes it keeps up, and sometimes it does not, and when it does not, it leaves a line. That line is not a mistake in the design. It is what happens when a living covering tries to keep up with a living body that will not stay still. I think accepting that would take a great deal of pressure off people, especially young people, who are taught to expect their bodies to stay smooth and unchanged while they are, in fact, changing faster than at any other time in their lives.

I also want to be plain about the money side of this, because stretch marks are a big business, and that business depends on people feeling bad about their skin. Creams, oils, lotions, and treatments are sold with pictures of smooth skin and promises of visible results in weeks, and the people who buy them are often the people who can least afford to waste money: young mothers, teenagers, and people trying to feel better about a body that has changed. I do not think those products are evil, and some of them do make the skin feel softer, which is a real and pleasant benefit. But I think the promise is dishonest, and I think the dishonesty matters, because it tells people that their normal skin is a problem that only a product can solve. A person who believes that will keep buying, and keep feeling that they have failed, when in truth their skin did exactly what skin is supposed to do when it is stretched quickly.

My last thought is about confidence, and about what actually builds it. Confidence does not come from having flawless skin. It comes from doing things, from being able to swim, to wear what you like, to walk into a room without thinking about a line on your hip. A person who avoids the swimming pool because of stretch marks is not avoiding water. They are avoiding being seen, and that avoidance shrinks their life a little, day by day. I think the way back is small and practical: go to the pool once, wear the shirt you like once, and notice that nothing bad happens, that nobody stares, and that the day goes on as normal. Confidence is built by those small moments, not by a cream. And once a person has those moments behind them, the marks matter less, not because they have vanished, but because the person has stopped letting them decide what they can do.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does “Why Do We Get Stretch Marks on Skin” really mean?

It means asking why thin lines appear on the skin even though there was no cut or injury. The answer is that when skin stretches quickly, the tiny fibres in its deeper layer, called collagen and elastin, can be pulled beyond what they can bear, and some of them tear. The outer layer of skin stays intact, so there is no open wound, but the tears underneath show through as lines. The marks are a sign that the body underneath grew or expanded faster than the skin could adjust.

Why do so many people search for “Why Do We Get Stretch Marks on Skin”?

People search for it because stretch marks are very common and often appear without warning, in teenagers, in pregnancy, after weight gain, or after fast muscle growth. Most people notice them by accident in a mirror and want to know whether they are normal, whether they will go away, and whether anything caused them. Parents also search for it when their teenagers develop marks, and new mothers search for it after pregnancy, because they want a clear answer they can trust.

How long does the feeling behind “Why Do We Get Stretch Marks on Skin” usually last?

A new stretch mark is usually red, pink, or purple, and it may feel slightly raised or itchy for a few weeks or months. Over time the colour fades to pale silver or white, the surface flattens, and the itching usually stops. Most marks become much less noticeable within a year or two, although they do not disappear completely. The thin patch of new tissue that replaced the torn fibres stays in the skin, so a faint line remains even after the colour has faded.

What makes “Why Do We Get Stretch Marks on Skin” feel stronger on some days?

A new stretch mark can feel itchier or more noticeable on some days, especially when the skin is dry, when the weather is cold, or when clothing rubs against it. Dry skin itches more, and a fresh mark is more sensitive than the skin around it. Stretching the area, for example by reaching up with an arm that has marks on the shoulder, can also make it feel tight. These feelings usually ease as the mark gets older and the skin settles.

Can daily habits change anything about “Why Do We Get Stretch Marks on Skin”?

Daily habits can give the skin its best chance, but they cannot guarantee that stretch marks will not appear. Keeping the skin moisturised helps it stay supple, drinking enough water and eating a varied diet with enough protein gives the body the material to make collagen and elastin, and gaining or losing weight gradually gives the skin more time to adjust. No cream has been proven to stop the deep fibres from tearing, because creams sit on the surface while the tearing happens underneath. Time is the main thing that makes marks fade.

When should I pay closer attention to “Why Do We Get Stretch Marks on Skin”?

Stretch marks themselves are harmless and do not need medical attention, but pay closer attention if the skin around a mark becomes very painful, very swollen, or shows signs of infection, or if marks appear suddenly with other changes in the body that worry you. This is general information only, not personal advice, and a health professional who can see the skin in person is the right person to judge any change that concerns you.