If you're like most women you're probably used to seeing air-brushed bodies in ads, fashion spreads and magazine covers. And you may not know that the large majority of the women, girls and even men have stretch marks. Why? Because growing causes them. If growth spurts during adolescence don't create these tiny skin tears, they will form at any time in your life when you suddenly get bigger, whether your stretched skin comes from bulging muscle, fat or pregnancy. (Ninety percent of women get stretch marks while they are pregnant.)

What can you do about stretch marks? First, be patient. Your reddish-purplish marks will eventually fade in color. Whether or not the marks disappear has to do with your skin type; the depth of the stretch marks and your determination to treat them. If you want a barometer of how your body will handle stretch marks, think of how your scars fade. Stretch marks are, in fact, tiny scars, formed when the lower layers of skin tear because they don't stretch as fast as upper layers of skin.