Stretch marks on the breasts

Stretch marks on the breasts are scars in the dermis where the skin of the breasts stretched faster than it could adapt. The NHS lists the breasts among the common places for them, and puberty, pregnancy, breastfeeding and weight change are the usual reasons. Stretch Mark Removal London explains how they change and when treatment is worth considering.

New breast marks are pink, red, purple or darker than the surrounding skin, and they often spread across the breast from the area that stretched most. Many fade well on their own over a year or two. The skin here is thinner than on the thighs or stomach, so a practitioner chooses settings with care, and elective treatment waits until pregnancy and breastfeeding have both finished. The guide to reducing the appearance of stretch marks covers every option.

• Breast growth during puberty
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding
• Gaining or losing weight quickly
• A family member with stretch marks

Breasts change size in pregnancy and again while breastfeeding, and marks can appear at either stage. Elective treatment waits until breastfeeding has finished, and by then many marks have faded a long way. A photograph now and another at around a year is the fairest way to see the change. The guide to stretch marks in pregnancy covers the timing in full.

Once marks have settled, microneedling or carefully set fractional laser can thicken the thinned skin over a course of sessions. The thinner skin of the breast needs gentler settings and a patch test, and a practitioner will ask about any history of scarring. Marks around a surgical scar, such as after an implant operation, are best discussed with the surgeon first.