13 April 2025 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): Stretch marks are more common than you think, but it’s perfectly okay to want to fade them over time. While many products cater specifically to stretch marks, all that clutter can make this simple process unnecessarily expensive and confusing. If you wish to cut through the clutter, it’s important to understand the roots, what really works.
Dermatologist Dr Charles broke it down to the basics, simplifying stretch mark treatment into just two steps: choosing the right ingredients and sticking to the right duration.
Dr Charles shared these 2 steps for treating stretchmarks, which you can incorporate into your routine if fading stretch marks are on your mind:
Step 1: ingredients
While many may frown at stretch marks, condemning them as a flaw but Dr Charles assured that they are natural and everyone has them.
He said, “These are normal. Everyone has them, including me. If you want to prevent them or reduce the chances of developing them, this is what you gotta do, and it’s not going to cost you a lot of money. Step one is to find a cream with hyaluronic acid and centella.”
Any cream that contains these two ingredients, hyaluronic acid and centella, may work well for stretch marks. At the end of the day, it’s the potency of the ingredients that matters, not the brand.
Step 2: Application duration and frequency
Dr Charles added, “Step 2 is what most people forget to do, and it’s the big mistake. The critical ingredients that you have to make sure you massage for five minutes every single day because that massage that mechanical stimulation of your fibroblasts helps to make new collagen.”
Further, he also that a few topical retinoids, when applied twice daily, also show some benefits. Acne products may show similar results.
Summary: Dr. Charles shares a simple 2-step method for fading stretch marks: use creams with hyaluronic acid and centella, and apply with daily massage for best results