You should have looked for help before they occurred. I believe retinoids and laser treatment (585-nm pulsed dye laser IIRC?) are the best options. Retinoids should work well for prevention in my opinion.
Stretch marks are basically a form of scar and the literature on treatment of those is vast but I've got no time to review other treatment modalities (and even less personal experience, I can merely tell you that retinoids do not work particularly well for hypertrophic scars...)
Tretinoin improves stretch marks at 0,1% (1996, n=22) [1]
Low dose tretinoin does not improve stretch marks at 0,025% (1994, n=11) [2]
Improves abdominal striae (2001, n=20) [3]
[1] Kang et al. Arch Dermatol. 1996 May;132(5):519-26.Topical tretinoin (retinoic acid) improves early stretch marks. Department of Dermatology, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, USA.
[2] Pribanich et al. Low-dose tretinoin does not improve striae distensae: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Cutis. 1994 Aug;54(2):121-4. Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157.
[3] Rangel O et al. Topical tretinoin 0.1% for pregnancy-related abdominal striae: an open-label, multicenter, prospective study. Adv Ther. 2001 Jul-Aug;18(4):181-6. Gynecological-Obstetrics Clinic, ISSEMYM Hospital, Mexico City, Mexico
Edited by kismet, 07 April 2009 - 01:13 PM.