Getty Images published pictures of model Jasmine Tookes at a Victoria’s Secret event in 2016. Stretch marks were clearly visible on her skin, and she was wearing a three-million-dollar bra covered in diamonds and emeralds. The reaction to the photos seemed out of proportion to the act itself, which was just a woman being photographed without having her skin corrected. The fact that this was exceptional demonstrated how infrequently it occurred and how much the lack of retouching still felt like a statement at that precise moment. The marks were airbrushed out of the official campaign photos.
Whether they asked to be or not, skin clinics are now at the center of a conversation that revolves around this tension between the public act of acceptance and the private reality of what is actually corrected before it reaches us. Stretch marks can occur in up to 90% of pregnant women. They affect about 70% of teenage girls. It is statistically normal to have scars from surgery, acne, injuries, or sudden changes in one’s body. The self-acceptance narrative that emerged in the 2010s, with its “tiger stripes” and “battle scars” language, felt necessary because the cultural script has historically treated them as something to minimize, hide, or apologize for. It was a rebuttal to decades of contradictory messaging.
| Topic | Stretch Marks, Scars, and Self-Acceptance: Where Skin Clinics Fit Into That Story |
| How Common Are They | Up to 90% of pregnant women develop stretch marks; approximately 70% of adolescent girls have them, making stretch marks one of the most prevalent skin conditions worldwide, yet among the least openly discussed |
| Why They Form | Collagen and elastin fibers beneath the skin are stretched beyond their capacity during rapid growth, pregnancy, or weight change — the marks are structurally a form of scar, not a surface-level skin issue |
| Clinical Treatments Available | VBeam laser (targets redness in new marks), Fractional/Hybrid laser resurfacing, Microneedling with Radiofrequency (Secret RF — stimulates collagen and elastin), PRP therapy, Inkless Scar Revision |
| Best Treatment Window | Red/purple marks (striae rubra) respond most effectively to early laser intervention; older, silvery marks (striae alba) can still be improved with microneedling and radiofrequency to rebuild collagen structure |
| What Creams Can’t Do | Cocoa butter, olive oil, and aloe vera moisturize the surface but do not address structural collagen breakdown beneath the skin — the root cause of stretch mark appearance |
| Psychological Impact | Many individuals avoid pools, beaches, and intimacy due to stretch marks and visible scarring; research links visible scarring to anxiety, social withdrawal, and reduced quality of life in a significant subset of patients |
| Clinic Philosophy | Reputable skin clinics do not advocate for complete erasure — they offer “significant improvement” that helps clients feel more comfortable without reinforcing the idea that marks need to be hidden or corrected as a condition of self-worth |
| Reference | Riverbanks Clinic — Understanding and Treating Stretch Marks (riverbanksclinic.co.uk) |
Nobody realized how difficult the discussion would get once people began to firmly assert that accepting a mark and wanting to lower it are not mutually exclusive stances. Both of these statements are accurate. Additionally, skin clinics now operate in the area where that subtlety exists. Depending on how they handle it, they may either improve or worsen the discussion.
Stretch marks’ physical reality is fairly simple. They develop during pregnancy, adolescence, rapid weight gain, or significant muscle growth, when the collagen and elastin fibers beneath the skin are stretched beyond their natural limits. In terms of structure, the resulting marks are a type of scarring. The cocoa butter industry has consistently overpromised and underdelivered because they are not a surface issue. When a structural problem is addressed, the structure remains unchanged. This is also the reason why the market for over-the-counter creams is still driven more by hope than by proof, and why patients who have been using topical products for years frequently show up at a clinic feeling both exhausted and genuinely curious about what is truly feasible.
What can be purchased from a store differs significantly from what clinics can provide. Early-stage red or purple marks, which dermatologists refer to as striae rubra, react favorably to laser therapy, especially the VBeam laser, which targets the vascular component of new marks and can significantly speed up the fading process compared to what occurs naturally. Striae alba, or older, silvery marks, are more difficult to treat but still manageable. Over the course of several sessions, microneedling in conjunction with radiofrequency—a technology that produces controlled micro-injuries to stimulate the skin’s natural production of collagen—can soften their texture and lessen their visibility. Another option is PRP therapy, which stimulates healing by using the patient’s own blood plasma. The outcomes are actual and frequently noteworthy. The majority of sincere practitioners will argue that they are not a total erasure.
This is significant because the ethics of these treatments are complicated by the language used. A clinic that says “we can help improve this if you want to” and one whose marketing suggests that untreated marks are an issue that needs to be fixed are very different. The former acknowledges that each individual in the consultation room is free to establish their own relationship with their skin. The latter subtly introduces the idea that the marks themselves—rather than the person’s subjective opinions about them—are the problem. Even in clinics that claim to put patient well-being first, it’s difficult to ignore how frequently the second strategy predominates in marketing copy.
Following a 2013 article on post-pregnancy bodies, the women who wrote to BBC Magazine shared a variety of experiences that defy simple classification. One person talked about feeling completely unwanted for years before gradually using rock climbing to rediscover who she was. Her stretch marks and scars, which were reminders of a pregnancy she was later unable to replicate, were described as “glorious” by another. Both answers are valid. Neither renders the other invalid. What they have in common is that a person’s relationship with their body is what matters, and both clinical treatment and self-acceptance can either support or undermine that relationship.
Even though the industry as a whole doesn’t always reflect this, the most reputable skin clinics appear to understand it. From the better-run practices in London, Dubai, and elsewhere, the most compelling framing is not “fix yourself” but “stop hiding.” This is somewhat similar to what the body acceptance movement has always attempted to convey: the objective is to feel comfortable in your own skin, no matter how you get there. It is up to the person in front of the mirror to decide whether to accept the marks as a part of who they are or minimize them to the point where they can wear whatever they want to the beach. Not the medical facility. It’s not the culture.
