What's the Difference Between a Scar and a Stretch Mark?

As time goes by, the evidence of your life can begin to pile up in the form of scarring and stretch marks. While each develops for different reasons, both are caused by the same response in your tissue. Fortunately, we can address both using advanced laser technology to clear away these unsightly developments that blemish the surface of your skin.

At Z-Roc Dermatology, our team of skin care experts, led by Drs. Khongruk Wongkittiroch and Matthew Zarraga, is equipped with the latest technologies to keep your skin looking smooth and scar-free.

Here’s a look at how stretch marks and scars develop and how we can get rid of them.

Behind scarring in your tissue

Your skin is your largest organ at an average of 22 square feet, and it performs a very important role — it shields and protects you from whatever the world throws at you. When you injure yourself, your skin jumps into action to repair the damage as quickly as possible so that foreign invaders can’t gain access to your body. This allows your body to then concentrate on repairing the damage in your tissue.

To accomplish all of this, your skin calls upon the structural protein that’s responsible for much of its support — collagen. When the collagen arrives on the scene, its mandate is to plug up the breech, and it pays little attention to the aesthetic result on the surface of your skin. 

When it comes to stretch marks, these unsightly lines develop when your skin is stretched beyond its limits and your structural fibers snap. Here again, collagen kicks in to shore up the vulnerable tissue.

Interestingly, through our advanced laser technology, we clear away the scar tissue and tap this same resource — collagen — to rebuild a smoother surface.

Eliminating scar tissue

Whether you want to eliminate stretch marks or scars, we use the same micro-fractional laser technology. With our advanced laser equipment, we deliver pulses of light energy into your scar tissue to break it apart. 

As your body clears away the treated tissue, your body sets to work to rebuild your skin with healthier skin cells and collagen, but not with the same “flood” response that created the scar or stretch marks in the first place. Instead, you’re left with much smoother tissue that blends in beautifully with your surrounding skin.

The treatments themselves usually take less than an hour, and we typically recommend a series of 3-5, depending upon your goals and the size of the treatment area. There’s no downtime after your sessions, which means you’re free to get on with your day directly afterward.

As we progress, you see the gradual results as we break apart your scar tissue to pave the way for new skin.

If you’d like to get rid of scarring and rebuild smoother skin, please don’t hesitate to contact our office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.