Stretch marks are often an unpleasant surprise. They tend to appear when skin expands or shrinks fast. These mild to moderate scars occur during and after pregnancy, rapid weight gain or loss, during muscle training, and or due to a medical condition that may affect your skin's elasticity.
You may also notice stretch marks when your skin heals from an injury. It's also common to see these marks at any age, especially if there's a family history or frequent changes in hormonal levels. Red light therapy is one of the most effective treatments for stretch marks.
While many creams and topical treatments claim to reduce or remove the severity of these scars, red light therapy produces results that greatly improve your skin's appearance.
How Effective Is Red Light Therapy on Stretch Marks?
Red light therapy is very effective in treating stretch marks. In fact, it succeeds where natural ointments, creams, and topical treatments do little to nothing to reduce or eliminate them. While stretch marks pose no risks to your health, you'll likely want to reduce their appearance.
What can you expect when you use red light treatments for stretch marks? Red light therapy stimulates cellular rejuvenation and energy, improves blood circulation, and improves your body's immune and healing responses. You'll also benefit from greater collagen promotion, which improves your skin while reducing the redness and inflammation associated with these scars.
What Are the Risks of Using Red Light Therapy?
There are many benefits to using red light therapy, but a few risks too! It's important to consider your skin condition and previous scarring before starting treatment. While red light therapy is generally safe, you may experience swelling or inflammation, pain in the affected area, bleeding, and discoloration. Fortunately, these symptoms are often temporary or disappear after several treatments.
Are you Ready to Begin? How to Prepare for Treatment
You'll want to prepare if you're ready to start red light therapy for your stretch marks! Avoiding anti-inflammatory drugs and natural supplements is important, as they can increase the likelihood of bleeding after treatment.
Suppose you use other treatments, such as chemical peels, tanning beds, collagen injections, sunbathing, waxing, or similar skin treatments. In that case, avoiding these at least two weeks before red light therapy is best.
Natural deodorants, soaps, and perfumes may seem benign, though it's best to reduce or stop using these shortly after treatment. You'll want to avoid any potential risks, such as allergic reactions. If you have a medical history of skin conditions, you'll want to discuss these with your doctor or specialist prior to using red light treatment.
Can You Prevent Stretch Marks?
While stretch marks are primarily unpreventable, some products may help. Skin creams, serums, or ointments that contain hyaluronic acid may help prevent stretch marks in areas where they are prone to appear.
Many products, such as coconut oil, vitamin E, almond oil, cocoa butter, and olive oil, claim to reduce or prevent this type of scarring. While these natural products are great for moisturizing your skin, they are ineffective in treating or preventing stretch marks from appearing.
So, while there is no guarantee that you'll stop stretch marks from appearing, red light therapy is a great solution when you begin to notice them! For some people, stretch marks naturally fade over time as their skin stretches less, and weight changes are minimal.
Improving Your Skin's Condition
Is there anything else you can do to improve your skin before and after red light therapy? First, you'll be glad to know that stretch marks cause no harm to your health, but they are not the most aesthetically pleasing to look at!
One way you can boost your skin's health and appearance is with a well-balanced diet. Including fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meats, and nutrient-rich food in each meal is essential. Antioxidants are found in many fresh fruits and vegetables, especially fresh berries and citrus fruits.
What Happens After Treatment?
You may notice some after-effects when using red light therapy. Initially, the stretch marks and surrounding area may sting, feel sensitive, and become swollen. The area may become pink or red for several hours. A cold pack or cloth will provide instant relief until the swelling reduces and the redness fades.
If you typically use sunblock or moisturizing lotion on your skin, you should avoid these topical creams for at least one day or until the discomfort disappears. You can use a natural moisturizer if your skin is dry, which can actually help the healing process. It's also important to prevent exposing your skin to direct sunlight for up to one day after treatment.
Conclusion
Red light therapy is an excellent option for the treatment of stretch marks. You may find that just a few sessions will result in significant improvement, or a more long-term approach is needed. Overall, red light therapy is essentially the only effective treatment that drastically reduces stretch marks while improving your skin's smoothness.
You'll also want to monitor the impact of red light therapy on your skin after each treatment to notice any redness or irritation. Fortunately, these side effects are minimal, and the overall results are well worth the treatment!