Several studies have shown that stretch marks are among the top five causes for insecurity in women. During pregnancy, women are at an elevated risk for developing stretch marks, also called striae, because of the rapid and sudden growth of their body. Stretch marks are formed when underlying tissue grows faster than the skin layers covering it, causing small tears in the epidermal surface. Scar tissue then proceeds to grow in these tears, creating stretch marks.
While some women start showing a tendency of developing stretch marks during puberty, others only experience problems for the first time during a pregnancy. As the womans abdominal area can be flat for the first four months of the pregnancy she can suddenly catch up during the fifth and sixth month, with extremely fast growth which subjects the abdominal skin to a significant amount of tension. In this situation the fetus is growing at a rate faster than the mothers skin can keep up with, resulting in epidermal ruptures leading to stretch marks.
Every person is unique and skin grows at different rates, causing some people to suffer from stretch marks more severely than others.
