Almost all women hate having any type of blemish on their skin, this includes all types of scars and stretch marks. While scars can be prevented by avoiding situations that may expose you to potentially harmful circumstances, stretch marks are harder to prevent as they occur as a natural byproduct of the body's physiology.

One of the first causes of stretch marks is growing up during puberty. During this stage in life, the body grows very fast that sometimes, the skin is not able to keep up with its growth. When one grows too large due to excessive eating, or when women get pregnant, the skin may also stretch past its limits which cause these marks to appear.

Comparing men and women, women are more prone to the development of stretch marks. This is because they are subjected to more bodily changes in a lifetime compared to men. This is especially evident during pregnancy. In addition to this, the various hormonal changes that occur in women may also contribute to the easier tearing of the skin.

But men can also develop these marks. Although men do not get pregnant so they wouldn't have to undergo drastic changes in their bodies, and they are also subjected to fewer variations in their hormone levels, there are still other situations as to when they can develop these scars. Aside from excessive eating and increase in weight, body building which leads to sudden increase in mass can also lead to extreme stretching of the skin.

As with other situations, preventing a problem is always easier than solving it. Unfortunately for this case, it is very hard to prevent the formation of stretch marks. This is because some marks may have been formed during puberty when you were not yet conscious about your body, while some just really happens no matter how much you try and prevent them from forming.

Even though they are hard to prevent, there are still ways that you can try and lessen the chances that these scars form on your skin. When you are anticipating your body to undergo a rapid increase in size such as in pregnancy, you can apply creams such as cocoa butter on the areas that will most likely be affected. Adding supplements to your diet which can help in increasing the skin's elasticity may also be a good idea. As for other factors such as excessive eating, these may simply be controlled so that the body does not increase in size that fast.

For marks that are already present on your skin, there are several ways that you can try to eliminate them. The more effective and expensive ways of getting rid of them is through laser treatments or microdermabrasion. Other cheaper ways is by using scar removal creams and other home remedies. These may not completely eliminate scars and marks but they can lighten their appearance thus making them almost invisible.

The best way to avoid these stretch marks is by preventing them from forming. Unfortunately, this is very hard to do as some may still form no matter how much prevention you do. In these cases, you may resort to scar removal techniques so that you can regain your flawless looking skin.