Stretch marks
Stretch marks can occur on any part of the body, but are most commonly found on the arms, legs, thighs, hips, buttocks, and abdomen. In our Beirut plastic surgery office, we see many patients with stretch marks who desire treatment with either surgery or lasers. Deciding on whether plastic surgery or laser treatment is ideal for your stretch marks begins with a consultation with one of our expert plastic surgeons; Dr. Nazareth Papazian or Dr. Raffy Karamanoukian.
What are Stretch Marks?
Stretch marks are usually caused by a tear in the deep layers of the skin known as the dermis. They can appear immediately or late after a developmental surge in body such as intense weight gain, puberty, or pregnancy. Depending on your skin complexion, stretch marks can appear as pinkish streaks on your skin, darkly discolored lines, or hypopigmented white indentations in otherwise normal skin. In a small subset of patients in our Beirut office, severe stretch marks occur after the use of prednisone or steroids.
Surgery for Stretch Marks
Our plastic surgery experts can treat some areas of severe stretch marks with surgery. The most common problems we see in our office include belly button stretch marks, abdominal stretch marks, breast stretch marks, and inner thigh stretch marks. These problems can be treated with a surgical procedure that removes the stretchmark-containing skin such as a belly button makeover, abdominoplasty tummy tuck, breast lift, or thigh lift.
During your consultation, Dr. Papazian or Dr. Karamanoukian can advise you on whether you are a candidate for a breast lift, abdominoplasty, or thigh lift. Most patients will not need surgery, often deferring a surgical approach for a less-invasive laser treatment.
Lasers for Stretch Marks
Our office is recognized as a national center of excellence in the management of stretch marks using advanced laser protocols. Most stretch marks can be reduced with a combination of laser and RF treatments that reduce redness, improve collagen synthesis, and tighten the skin. Options include fractional CO2 laser, ablative laser, non-ablative laser, Nanofractional RF, microneedling RF, RF skin tightening, Exilis therapy, and Venus Viva therapy.