Tummy Tuck and Stretch Marks!

Medical Term for Strech Marks: Striae
Stretch marks or striae (singular stria), are a form of scarring on the skin with an off-color hue. They are caused by tearing of the dermis, which over time may diminish, but will not disappear completely.
Stretch marks are often the result of the rapid stretching of the skin associated with rapid growth.
Stretch marks can appear anywhere on the body, but are most likely to appear in places where larger amounts of fat are stored. Most common places are the abdomen, breasts, upper arms, underarms, back, thighs , hips, and buttocks. They pose no health risk in and of themselves.


In CUSHING SYNDROME, the glucocorticoid hormones responsible for the development of stretch marks affect the dermis by preventing the fibroblasts from forming collagen and elastin fibers, necessary to keep rapidly growing skin taut. This creates a lack of supportive material, as the skin is stretched and leads to dermal and epidermal tearing.
A new modality, fractional laser resurfacing, offers a novel approach to treating striae. Using scattered pulses of light only a fraction of the scar is zapped by the laser over the course of several treatments. This creates microscopic wounds. The body responds to each treatment by producing new collagen and epithelium

Picture courtesy: Derm Atlas

Abdominoplasty or "tummy tuck" is a cosmetic surgery procedure used to make the abdomen more firm. The surgery involves the removal of excess skin and fat from the middle and lower abdomen in order to tighten the muscle and fascia of the abdominal wall. 

What the HECK is FRECKLE and how to differentiate fromLentigines

These are small pigmented spots on the skin with a clearly-defined edge, surrounded by normal-appearing skin. It is a harmless (benign) hyperplasia of melanocytes which is linear in its spread. is restricted to the cell layer directly above the basement membrane of the epidermis where melanocytes normally reside. 
This is in contrast to the "nests" of multi-layer melanocytes found in moles (melanocytic nevi). Because of this characteristic feature, the adjective "lentiginous" is used to describe other skin lesions that similarly proliferate linearly within the basal cell layer
The picture of lentigines below is from DERM ATLAS

Lentigines VS. Freckles:
Freckles have a relatively normal number of melanocytes but an increased amount of melanin. A lentigo has an increased number of melanocytes. Freckles will intensify and fade with sunlight exposure, whereas lentigines will stay stable in their color regardless of sunlight exposure

The pictures of Freckle below are from Wikipedia

Café au lait spots

Café au lait (French pronunciation: [kafe o lɛ] "coffee with milk") is a French coffee drink. 
Are so called because the spots are light brown in color ( like coffee with milk)
They are pigmented birthmarks.  The spots of neurofibromatosis,  have a smooth border resembling the "coast of California"

Having six or more café au lait spots greater than 5 mm in diameter before puberty, or greater than 15 mm in diameter after puberty, is a diagnostic feature of neurofibromatosis type I, but other features are required to diagnose NF-1. The incidence of single lesions is high and of no significance - a patient is allowed up to four patches of less than 0.5cm diameter, but no patches greater than 1.5cm diameter.


Café au lait spots: In McCune-Albright's syndrome WILL NOT CROSS THE MIDLINE has a irregular border compared to "Coast of Maine"The patches are usually large, and have irregular borders resembling the "coast of Maine". .

Typical lesions that are often found on the nape of the neck and crease of the buttocks are shown (arrows).

Picture Courtesy: Wikkipedia