Stretch Marks
Stretch Marks, the remarkable strength of your skin and its ability to stretch are due to two components of the dermis: collagen and elastin. The skin stretches, for example, in pregnancy, in obese people, as a result of some injuries, and even in stretching and flexing your elbow. Red stretch marks can appear when stretching is extreme enough to tear the dermis, although afterwards only silvery streaks remain as a sign of the damage.
Collagen
The most abundant tissue in the body is connective tissue, which, as its name suggests, binds, supports and strengthens other tissues. Collagen is the name given to one type of connective tissue. It forms about three-quarters of the skin's dry weight, so keeping it healthy is vital to having good skin. The word comes from the Greek kolla which means "glue". It is a tough, rigid substance made up of bundled fibres of protein which do not stretch very much. Its rigidity and ability to respond to physical stresses lessen with age and exposure to sunlight. Vitamin C is essential for the formation of the key protein in collagen - hydroxyproline. Without vitamin C the skin cannot maintain its structure.
Elastin
In contrast to collagen, elastin - the other major structural protein in skin - has a `spring' to it. It too provides the skin with strength but, as its name suggests, elastin is what gives skin its resilience; it allows skin (and other tissues such as the lungs and blood vessel walls) to expand and spring back to its normal size. The fibres that make up elastin can be stretched to one-and-a-half times their relaxed length without breaking. To see this for yourself, just pull your ear lobe down and see how much its surface area expands. It is believed to be changes in the structure of elastin which result in wrinkles' although, structurally speaking, little difference has been found in the actual cells of wrinkly skin and smooth skin. So wrinkles are actually caused by a combination of factors: damage to cells through oxidation and the body's natural aging process which gradually reduces its ability to retain its structure. Collagen and elastin are contained in a fluid which is made up of several substances including water, and this is one reason why a good water intake is so important for maintaining healthy, supple skin.
Stretch Marks Solution StriVectin-SD