Stretch marks (also known as striae) concern all of us. Many people assume they're caused by pregnancy, which in essence means that only pregnant women or women who have already had children are affected. This simply isn't true.

Body builders often suffer from striae, and most of these body builders are men. People that easily experience weight fluctuations are also prone to develop stretch marks. Teens are often afflicted with striae during "growth spurts". In short, anytime skin is stretched rapidly or dramatically, striae can appear.

That means that striae can appear in men and women, and they can also affect children, teens, and adults. They affect people of every race and ethnicity, as well. What are striae, and why do they appear?

Skin is a remarkable organ. It's the largest organ in the entire body, and one of the most complex. Skin protects our internal organs, collaborates in the wastes elimination, and processes foreign elements, such as sunshine, for our benefit. One of skin's most extraordinary characteristics is its ability to stretch.

Stretch Marks - A Sign of Poor Collagen and Elastin Production

Elastin and collagen are two of the building blocks of skin. Collagen and elastin are both proteins, in the form of elastic fibers. Collagen is a binding agent in skin. It's the building block of connective tissue. Elastin provides skin with, you guessed it, its elasticity.

And the skin is extraordinarily elastic. However, at certain times, skin is over-stressed, stretched beyond its ability to resist. At these times, the skin actually tears. These little lesions can heal, but they leave scar tissue. The scar tissue that accompanies these small rips in the skin is known as stretch mark.

But stretch marks are not forever anymore. There are natural ingredients that trigger the replacement of flawed skin cells and that synthesize new healthy collagen and elastin and skin cells from within your body. These products utilize biological activators, similar to your own regenerative processes, to prevent and eliminate stretch marks, they stimulate and control an orderly synthesis of collagen, elastin and the replacement of damaged skin with new skin cells.

Applying products that contain natural ingredients like snail serum and Rose Hip Oil (at least 2 times a day depending on the severity of the blemishes) you can "digest" flawed tissues, reducing and even eliminating all signs of stretch marks. These biological ingredients also create an environment that trigger the regeneration of normal collagen, increasing skin firmness.