There is a lot of controversy about the efficacy of laser removal of stretch marks. The main bone of contention is that lasers are only useful in breaking down or vaporizing tissue, not in actually repairing it. In fact, even surgical intervention is apparently only useful if actual skin is excised. This goes along with the general medical standpoint – there is no cure for stretch marks.
The school of thought that does advocate cosmetic laser treatment for stretch marks holds a different view. According to this scripture, lasers can be useful in stimulating renewed growth of depleted collagen and will therefore ‘fill in’ stretch marks. The process is supposed to direct laser energy into the lower strata of the skin and thereby encourage collagen production.
Its exponents also promote the usefulness of laser treatment in treating stretch marks because it can remove damaged skin tissue, seal broken blood vessels and remodel the fibers of the affected middle skin. Lasers have certainly found extensive application in smoothing wrinkled skin
There seems to be some evidence that cosmetic laser surgery has some utility in making stretch marks fade, though not entirely disappear. Even then, this would be effective only in the early stages, the fundament being that lasers work well only to darker skin tones.
This means that stretch marks would respond satisfactorily only during the stage where they are of reddish or brownish tinge. Once their color has assumed a more flesh-colored shade, conventional laser rays cannot detect them and is therefore useless. However, there are now claims that a new type called pulsed dye laser can overcome even this limitation.
If laser treatment is beneficial in the removal or even repair of stretch marks or not is a medical issue best addressed by professionals. What can be said for it is preferable to radical cosmetic surgery because it does not entail the risk of infection and blood loss.
