Stretch marks occur due to weight gain, rapid weight loss and pregnancy. All these situations result in rapid changes to body shape, which in turn affects your skin.

Stretch marks have a very ugly appearance and start off with a reddish or purplish colour, which later turns into a glossy look with steaks of silver or white.

Stretch marks arise when the level of glucocorticoids increases throughout the bloodstream. The adrenal glands secrete this hormone and its level at times of pregnancy obesity, weight loss, weight lifting and Cushing's syndrome is high. Some medical terms used for stretch marks are vergetures, striae cutis distensae lineae atrophicae, striae distensae and linea albicante.

It's very embarrassing when stretch marks start appearing. Skin which was normal looking and glowing now looks ugly and very unsightly, which can be emotionally distressing as well. However, nature has put forth some cures for this problem. Here are a few tips on how you can remove stretch marks, using home-made mixes, pastes or changing your diet:

* Massage the area with stretch marks using either cod liver oil, olive oil, vitamin E oil or flaxseed oil.

* Regularly doing exercises will tone your body and reduce stretch marks because it's when your skin become loose or stretches that stretch marks start appearing.

* An age old remedy for removing stretch marks is applying some cocoa butter on them.

* If you are not eating the right foods, you can get stretch marks because your body is not getting the right nutrients. Make changes in your eating habits so that you have a balanced meal and your body get the nutrition it requires.

* Taking too much caffeine or tea can make your skin more susceptible to stretch marks. Reduce the intake and increase your consumption of water.

* Using oils containing Vitamin E or olive oil can reduce stretch marks and even prevent them from occurring, by providing the skin with nourishment and increasing elasticity.

* Buy creams containing collagen as they help to fight off stretch marks.

* Applying lavender oil on the areas with stretch marks can help to remove them.

* Use an apricot scrub on the area affected by stretch marks and you will see them to disappear in a short while.

Doing the above-mentioned steps will help you to remove stretch marks naturally. You do not have to spend money buying lotions or in doing surgery. Neither do you have to go through the trouble of finding a skin specialist or a beauty salon for finding a cure to this problem.

Natural remedies for removing stretch marks are painless and all that is needed is a few minutes of your time every day for a period of three to six months to see full effects.