The answer may very well appear from understanding that the skin matrix is in charge of the skin's mechanical properties, including firmness, strength, suppleness, and elasticity. Stretch marks are tears in a skin matrix altered by atrophy, a condition characterized by exactly the contrary of those just mentioned. Yes, skin injured by stretch marks is identified by thinning, weakness, roughness, sagging, stiffness and decrease in the size of tissues, impaired cellular proliferation, and decreased function, also called atrophia.

The skin matrix is a precious resource which is produced and consumed quite frequently during our lives. On one side, skin matrix is regularly synthesized by fibroblasts. On the other side, whenever it is damaged, malformed or worn out, skin matrix -particularly the structural proteins collagen and elastin- is broken down into fragments by collagenase and gelatinase enzymes, also called matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) and then reprocessed. By digesting or chopping up key matrix proteins, such as collagen and elastin, MMP enzymes play an underappreciated yet critical function in skin physiology.

In healthy or youthful skin, the synthesis and degradation of the matrix are in order: damaged or redundant matrix is degraded while the deficit is restored by the progressing synthesis. Unfortunately, this complicated balance gets interfered with because of hormonal imbalances, malnutrition, or and as we age, too little of the matrix is synthesized and too much is degraded. As with any supply-demand imbalance, it can be bettered by either augmenting supply (boosting synthesis of the matrix) or reducing demand (inhibiting the breakdown).

In particular, the synthesis of elastin is physiologically essential, although elastin is only 2% of the total protein in the dermis. These skin fibers supply the flexibility of skin. Elastin synthesis and the regulation of the quantity of cross-linked insoluble collagen and elastin fibers depend on the interdependence between 3 factors. The first is the existence of active fibroblasts, which emanate the soluble precursor of elastin, tropoelastin. The second is the relative quantity of several skin matrix components within the skin also secreted by fibroblasts. The third are enzymes that are in charge of both the cell degradation processes that allows the breakdown of dead cells into their component amino-acids and their re-use for the synthesis of new proteins (amino-acid chains).

So be careful of products that contain soluble collagen and/or elastin, they will NOT do the trick.

What is necessary is the biosynthesis and appropriate self-assembly of complex skin structures from inside out your body. The first step in elastic fiber formation is the appearance of small cell surface-associated elastin globules (soluble tropoelastin) that augment in size with time (microassembly). The elastin globules are afterwards transferred to pre-existing elastic fibers in the extracellular matrix where, through an intricate and orchestrated biological process, they coalesce into bigger structures (macroassembly) and become crosslinked funtional fiber-like polymers with reversible deformation and high resilience.

Collagen and Elastin Synthesis Boosters May Fail or Fall Short in People Affected by Atrophic Skin.

The most recent stretch mark treatment and prevention products are aimed at restoring skin matrix by stimulating the synthesis of collagen or elastin (e.g. ascorbic acid, copper peptides, palmitoyl pentapeptide, oligopeptides and other|synthetic copper peptides, ascorbic acid, oligopeptides, palmitoyl pentapeptide, and other). Unfortunately, this method fails or falls short in most people affected by atrophic skin, probably due to the specific chemistry of skin affected by such condition and an inability to respond to matrix synthesis boosters.

Their failure to treat existing stretch marks is most likely due to something important ingredient missing in those products; an element that can help your body to get rid of scar tissues and stretch marks. In fact, your body needs two things to accomplish this.

One, your body needs to be able to distinguish or identify scar tissue from the neighboring functional and healthy tissues in the skin matrix. Second, it must be able to degrade the proteins that those scars are made off and divide their component amino-acids to then eventually use them to create new skin matrix components.

This can only be accomplished by the action of two types of ingredients that act in concert. One is carrier molecules that are able to connect communication between cells and allow them to distinguish scars from functional and/ or healthy tissues and trigger fibroblast proliferation. The other crucial ingredient is enzymes that decompose the non functional, worn out, or damaged tissues that were identified by the messenger molecules.

Combined methods that consist of some form of abrading to physically break down some of the more superficial scarring, and a topical product that includes not just moisturizing enhancers or collagen synthesis boosters, but also cell communicating ingredients, enzymes that 'dissolve' damaged cells and scar proteins and skin regenerating activators can produce significant improvements.

Such product can also effectively prevent stretch marks.