Conditions Causing Stretch Marks

Rapid enlargement of the body causes stretching of the skin with the breaking of collagen and elastin fibers. Hence stretch marks are commonly found in areas of the body such as abdomen, breasts, thighs, buttocks, shoulders etc. Even though stretching is the main cause, certain hormones also have some role in their development.

The following are some common causes.

  1. Pregnancy: During pregnancy there will be stretching of the anterior abdominal wall to accommodate the enlarging uterus. During the second half of pregnancy pinkish stretch marks start appearing on either side of the lower abdomen and later on become silvery white.
  1. Obesity: Sudden weight gain due to excessive fat deposition can stretch the skin to develop stretch marks.
  1. Puberty: During puberty both sexes will have increase in fat deposition and body surface area that are due to hormonal activity, which results in stretch marks. Compared to boys, fat deposition is more in girls and hence they are found more among girls during puberty.
  1. Cushing’s syndrome: This is an endocrine disease due to the hypo-secretion of adrenal hormones. Here there will be obesity with marked stretch marks.
  1. Bodybuilding: Stretching of the skin due to excess of physical activity is the main cause here. Bodybuilding causes sudden enlargement of muscle size resulting in more stretch marks. The common sites are shoulders, thighs, deltoid region, gluteal region etc.
  1. Medicines: Frequent use of steroid medicines and topical steroid creams can result in stretch marks. Topical drugs can cause insufficient production of collagen and elastin resulting in the weakness of skin.
  1. Edema: Edema is the collection of fluid in the intercellular space. This can occur anywhere in the body. Prolonged edema due to kidney and liver diseases can stretch the abdomen and cause stretch marks.
  1. Weight loss: Both rapid weight gain and rapid weight loss can cause the development stretch marks.
  1. Miscellaneous: All conditions that hamper collagen synthesis result in stretch marks.