Skin Deep

So it is with stretch marks, the roadmap of pregnancy, the telltale signs carved into about 90 per cent of pregnant women’s abdomens, derrieres, breasts and thighs.

The most pressing question on most women’s minds (and stomachs): Can stretch marks, or striae gravidarum, as they are known among the PhD set, really be prevented? The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says no.

“There’s not much you can do about these other than monitor your weigh gain,” said Dr Laura Riley, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and author of “You and Your Baby”. “Various creams and lotions are sold to prevent stretch marks from developing or getting worse, but the jury is out on whether they work.”

In a double-blind study published in the 1991 International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 34 per cent of pregnant women who massaged a cream containing gotu kola extract (Centella asiatica), alpha tocopherol (a form of vitamin E) and collagen-elastin hydrolysates (enzymes) into their skin developed stretch marks, compared with 56 per cent who used a placebo.

Stretch marks occur when skin loses its elasticity, usually from rapid weight gain — a common occurrence, alas, when one is with child. But research has also shown that genetics and race play a role in stretch marks.

A survey by the Department of Dermatology at Stanford University School of Medicine sampled 161 women who had given birth. It found that 48 per cent of the women with stretch marks said their mothers also had them. Nearly 80 per cent of the women of color said they had stretch marks, said Dr Alexa B Kimball, an associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, and an author on the study.

Diminishing stretch marks is a patient’s best bet, said Dr Amy Derick, a dermatologist in Barrington, Ill. “There’s really not any data regarding creams,” she said. “But you can do laser treatments or Retin-A after the fact, especially early on when the lines are red and purple.”

Studies have found that topical tretinoin can lighten stretch marks as well as reduce their size. And she is certainly not...