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Stretch Marks Reduction with Red Light Therapy

Stretch marks are a common occurrence. Treatment for stretch marks can range from different oils to laser or surgical procedures. However, red light therapy is one of the most reliable and trustworthy skincare treatments worldwide. The advantages of this non-invasive therapy are immeasurable. This light modality has the big benefit to heal your skin and restore skin appearance without any temporary or long-term risks. If you are looking for a good treatment of stretch marks that does not include surgical procedures, read and get more details on red light therapy for stretch marks.

What are stretch marks? 

Stretch marks are a kind of scar brought about when the skin expands too rapidly, stretching the proteins that make up our dermis and causing the pores and skin cells to rupture and tear. The body prompts its healing mechanism to shut up the tear, however it’s working in a hurry – more concerned with mending the damage to keep out infection than how it looks. The end result is a shiny, silvery area of scar tissue that may fade over time but is very not going to disappear completely. They might also emerge as red, irritated, sore, or itchy, and they normally occur on the denser components of the body, such as the belly, thighs, and butt, though it is quite possible to occur in other places.

Stretch marks are commonly related with being pregnant but, the fact is, they can appear for all sorts of reasons – growth spurts, muscle gain, weight loss or gain, and so on. Sometimes our waistline modifications so speedy that our skin can’t hold up.

How do stretch marks come? 

Let’s go back for a moment with a short biological update. The dermis is the layer of skin between the epidermis and subcutaneous skin tissues. It is the thickest layer of the skin and is predominantly composed of the extracellular matrix (ECM). ECM is a network of proteins, enzymes and other non-cellular substances found in all tissues and organs and is the main component of connective tissue. This is basically a type of scaffolding that ensures the structure and support of our various fabrics.

The dermis is also composed of three types of cells: mast cells, macrophage cells and fibroblasts. Mast cells are your skin’s protective system against allergens and hypersensitivity, providing a quick anti-inflammatory reaction. Macrophages help your immune system fight off potentially harmful pathogens by detecting, gobbling up and destroying germs and even infected cells from your body.

Fibroblasts are the main cell in charge of the synthesis of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and collagen. Collagen is the principal structural protein of CEM. This is in fact the most abundant protein in the body, accounting for 30-40% of all proteins in the body. Collagen fibres form a dense network that is looser in some parts of the dermis and tighter in others. This allows the dermis to properly sustain the nerves and blood vessels while allowing a degree of flexibility. 

Stretch marks form when the skin is stretched taut at such a rapid rate that the fibroblasts in your dermal cells are not able to sufficiently produce collagen to properly regenerate the skin in time, causing tears in the dermis. In a quick attempt to prevent infection, your body repairs the perceived injury in a flashy way, causing scar tissue to form. Consider how you could respond if the wind ripped a hole in your roof during a hurricane. Your goal would be to plug this gap as quickly as possible, without worrying about aesthetics. 

Sadly, once stretch marks make their appearance, they’re here to stay. Collagen in scar tissue is organized in a distinctive manner in contrast to regular tissue.  When scar tissue is formed, new fibroblasts are additionally formed that reproduce the same scar tissue. Thus, as your skin does normal metabolism, so do stretch marks. One study aimed at the difference of the primary genes and proteins involved in the regulation of striae, compared to normal skin, and concluded that main difference observed at the dermal-epidermal junction and distinction occurs regarding collagen, collagen hydration, and elastin fibres. The study can be referred to via this website https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jocd.12974

The traditional treatments, like cream, seem hopeless to remove stretch marks, but simply make it less obvious. Can stretch marks be removed? It’s good to know that recent studies have proven that RLT is a safe, non-invasive therapy choice to be effective in both the prevention and the reduction of stretch marks. 

How RLT helps stretch marks? 

Numerous studies in these years have shown red light therapy to be high-quality in stimulating skin regeneration and repair, and for treating fibrosis. 

One study in 2018 found that among patients with immature striae was treated with 1,064-nm pulsed light, up to 55% had excellent results, with significant clinical improvements. The outcome of this study was deemed positive by patients and also the doctors. Moreover, the absence of adverse or side effects during this treatment period suggests encouraging outlook for the stretch marks treatment. To find out more details of the study, you can refer to this website https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1524-4725.2008.34129.x 

There are a few procedures through which irradiation with red and NIR light can substantially stop the formation of stretch marks and attenuate the look of the existing stretch marks. We will elaborate on the reason behind the effects of RLT on stretch marks. 

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1. RLT increases cellular energy 

To illustrate what’s happening at the cell level, suppose of your very own potential to perform tasks as a complete when you have only low energy, be it via lack of sleep, fallacious nutrition, or sickness, for example. When cells experiences a toll at an energy deficit, when fibroblasts are functioning sub-optimally, they produce inadequate quantities of collagen, enabling the dermis tend to tear under duress, and as a result allowing stretch marks to form. As for the existing stretch marks, inadequate collagen production can inhibit skin rejuvenation, impairing the recovery system that might attenuate stretch marks.  

2. RLT stimulates collagen production

One team of researchers in 2007 built a randomized, double-blind investigation about on the effectiveness of photobiomodulation on skin recovery. They determined a significant enhancement in not only the fibroblasts activation, but also in the quantity of collagen and the surrounding elastin fibres. A subsequent 2014 research confirmed similar findings. In one clinical trial, thirty-seven patients with abdominal striae distensae were treated with 585-nm pulsed light, and the increase in the amount of collagen fibres and elastic fibres was observed in all subjects, with subjective satisfaction to overall improvement. The trial can be referred to via the link https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5782435/

3. RLT increases blood flow

Increased circulation is doubtless beneficial to all aspects of cell growth in skin. First, it allows for more oxygen to be used for ATP synthesis. It’s also essential for the nutrient transportation, without which collagen production would be inhibited.  The enhancement of blood flow also favours the evacuation of cellular waste that could otherwise intervene the efficiency of collagen production. Giving it some thoughts, as more nutrients such as oxygens and other substances will be supplied to the spot of stretch mark, the result is the better recovery mechanism around the lesion location. RLT helps create an environment that’s most preferred for the dermis skin layer to heal and eventually get rid of stretch marks.

4. Red light therapy restores skin’s thickness

Exposure to red light doesn’t just repair our skin; it makes it thicker and firmer, through increasing skin elasticity and restoring the elastin fibres. One review examined the current management methods of stretch marks and compared the pulsed laser approaches and non-laser approaches. In this study, visible changes before and after light therapy were recorded and a significant improvement was observed regarding to epidermal and dermal thickness, collagen increment, and elastin density compared to baseline. You can see all these clinical result images via https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5782435/

The following picture shows a list of clinical trials of light therapy for stretch marks and their outcomes. 

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Conclusion

Don’t be surprised if you are just overcome from all of these informed benefits of RLT for stretch marks reduction. Those researchers and clinical trials have proven its effectiveness for you, and it even becomes an alternative or complementary approach in many clinical uses. You can experiment the improvement by your own if you give it a chance. 

The competitive RLT device market overwhelms you with countless options, and you may seek for the best choice for your money and successful treatment. So we made the work done for you, We made comparison with devices of other brands, and in terms of the efficiency of RLT, our devices provide the different levels of irradiation which target at different locations and problems and maximize the therapeutic effect. We provide professional medical devices, with most fitting irradiation and best user experience, that will surely assist your successful treatment. In testing, 10 minutes of irradiation of our devices is just equal to 20 minutes of others, which not only saves your time but offers the maximum result of light treatment. What’s more, our red light therapy devices are all registered with the FDA as class-II medical devices indicated for and ETL-approved. Our devices are designed with user experience, convenience, and safety in mind. The RLT for reducing stretch marks is a long-term treatment, but with our devices outperforming the others, the improved result is certainly visible, and that will be obviously encouraging for further treatments. Not to mention that we do our best to help your treatment by providing a three-year warranty, so it is a valuable investment for your skin and overall health.

Christopher Stern

Christopher Stern is a Washington-based reporter. Chris spent many years covering tech policy as a business reporter for renowned publications. He has extensive experience covering Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Trade Commissions. He is a graduate of Middlebury College. Email:[email protected]

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