Cellulite
Fat pushing against tethered skin Bands of connective tissue run down from the skin to the layer beneath. Fat sits between them. Where a band pulls the skin down and fat pushes up beside it, you get a dip.
← All comparisons
Dermapedia / CompareConditions
Cellulite vs Stretch Marks
Cellulite is dimpling in the surface of the skin. The skin looks puckered or padded, like the peel of an orange, and pinching the area makes it more obvious. Stretch marks are scars left by skin stretching too fast. They are narrow lines running side by side, red or purple at first and silver later. Dimples means cellulite and lines means stretch marks. Most people who have one also have the other, and neither causes the other.
At a glance
| The difference | Cellulite | Stretch Marks |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Fat pushing against tethered skin | A tear in the middle layer of skin |
| What it looks like | Dimples and puckers, no colour change | Coloured lines with a clear edge |
| Can you feel it | Yes, dips under a flat hand | Slightly thinner or crinkly |
| What it does over time | Comes and goes with weight and age | Fades, but never disappears |
Stretch Marks
Side by side
The differences that matter
What it is
Cellulite
Fat pushing against tethered skin
Bands of connective tissue run down from the skin to the layer beneath. Fat sits between them. Where a band pulls the skin down and fat pushes up beside it, you get a dip.
Stretch Marks
A tear in the middle layer of skin
The skin stretched faster than the collagen and elastin underneath could keep up with. Those fibres tore, and the mark is the scar that healed over the tear.
How it works, illustrated
Stretch Marks
Beneath the surface sits the dermis, the supportive layer. It is a woven mesh of collagen for strength, threaded with elastic fibers that let skin stretch and spring back. The body keeps making and replacing both, so the mesh stays strong enough to move with you.
1 / 5→
Rising cortisol — in pregnancy, in puberty, with steroid tablets or strong steroid creams, or in conditions that raise it — reduces how much collagen and elastin the skin makes and loosens what is already there. This is the part most explanations leave out, and it is why stretch marks are not simply a matter of being stretched.
←2 / 5→
Skin copes with a great deal of stretching when it is given time. It is the speed that does the damage. When the weakened elastic fibers in the supportive layer are pulled faster than they can adapt, they tear apart and retract, leaving a gap. Nothing shows on the surface yet.
←3 / 5→
Immune cells arrive at the tear and the blood vessels beneath widen, which is what turns the mark pink, red, purple or darker. It may itch. This is the striae rubrae stage, the skin is still actively remodeling, and it is the window where treatment has the most to work with.
←4 / 5→
The gap is repaired the way any wound is repaired: collagen laid down in flat parallel bundles instead of the woven mesh it replaced, the elastic fibers never properly restored, and the surface above thinned. Once this settles the change is permanent. The fading that follows is the redness draining away, not the scar resolving, and everything on the lists below is pushing on this step.
←5 / 5
What it looks like
Cellulite
Dimples and puckers, no colour change
Small dips and raised patches across an area. The colour of the skin is completely normal. It shows up in overhead light and disappears in flat light.
Stretch Marks
Coloured lines with a clear edge
Bands of a similar width, running parallel, at right angles to the direction the skin was pulled. New ones are pink, red or purple. Old ones are pale silver.
More photographs
Stretch Marks
Across skin tones
Stretch Marks
Light tone — pink then silvery
On light skin the new marks are the pink or red version that almost every photograph in circulation shows, and the mature ones settle to silvery-white. The contrast with the surrounding skin is small once they have faded, which is why people with light skin are often told stretch marks fade to nothing. That is a description of this tone, not of all of them.
1 / 4→
Medium tone — red-brown to pale
On medium and olive skin new marks read as reddish-brown or dull purple rather than bright pink, so they are less obviously the picture people are shown. Mature ones become pale and stand out more here than on light skin. The stage still matters more than the color, and new marks are still the ones worth acting on.
←2 / 4→
Brown tone — violet then pale
On brown skin new marks are usually deep violet, reddish-brown or simply darker than the skin around them. Because every description in circulation says pink, this stage is regularly missed — and it is the stage where treatment does the most. Once they mature they turn pale, which on brown skin means more contrast rather than less, so they stay visible for years.
←3 / 4→
Deep tone — dark, then high contrast
On deep skin tones the early marks can be dark brown, violet or near-black and are easily read as just a change in shade rather than as new stretch marks. The mature ones contain very little pigment, so against deep skin they stay clearly visible long after the same marks would have disappeared on light skin. People are often told stretch marks fade to nothing, and on this tone that is not what happens.
←4 / 4
Shape
Cellulite
An uneven area
There is no border. The whole surface of a thigh or a buttock has texture, and it fades into normal skin without a line.
Stretch Marks
Separate stripes
Each mark has two edges and a beginning and an end. You can count them.
Can you feel it
Cellulite
Yes, dips under a flat hand
Run a palm over it and the surface waves. Squeezing the skin between finger and thumb makes the dimples stand out sharply.
Stretch Marks
Slightly thinner or crinkly
The surface may feel a little sunken or papery along the line, but there is nothing standing up and nothing to squeeze.
Where it shows up
Cellulite
Buttocks, thighs and stomach
The backs and outsides of the thighs first, then the buttocks, the lower stomach and the upper arms.
Stretch Marks
Wherever the body grew fast
Thighs, hips, backs of the knees, stomach, breasts, upper arms and lower back. Growth spurts, weight changes and rapid muscle gain from lifting.
Where it appears
Stretch Marks
Abdomen, breasts, hips and thighs
They run at right angles to the direction the skin was stretched, which is why they lie horizontally around the abdomen in pregnancy and vertically on the thighs and breasts. The abdomen, breasts, hips and outer thighs are the usual places.
1 / 2→
Buttocks, lower back, and the shoulders after rapid muscle gain
The buttocks and the lower back are common in growth spurts and in pregnancy. Rapid muscle gain puts them somewhere different — across the shoulders, the upper back, the chest and the upper arms.
←2 / 2
What it does over time
Cellulite
Comes and goes with weight and age
It can look better or worse as weight changes. Skin thins with age, which makes the dimpling easier to see.
Stretch Marks
Fades, but never disappears
The colour fades a lot over one to two years. The texture change stays. A silver stretch mark is a settled scar that has become hard to see.
Who gets it
Cellulite
Most women, few men
Estimates put it on 80 to 90 percent of women past puberty. It is uncommon in men, because the connective tissue bands are arranged differently.
Stretch Marks
Anyone whose skin stretched fast
Teenagers in a growth spurt, people who gained or lost weight quickly, and people who put on muscle fast. Long courses of steroid creams or tablets also cause them.
When it needs a doctor
Cellulite
Never, unless you want it treated
Cellulite is normal skin structure, not a disease. There is nothing about it that needs medical attention.
Stretch Marks
If they appear without a reason
Stretch marks are harmless. Marks that appear suddenly, are wide and purple, and come with weight gain around the middle are worth mentioning to a doctor.
The pinch tells you which one you are looking at
Stretch Marks
A stretch mark does not react. Pinch it and it is the same line it was before, sitting flat in the skin. There is nothing underneath it to move.
They are two different layers of the problem
Cellulite
Cellulite is about what is under the skin. The dimpling comes from the structure below the surface, so the skin itself is intact and normal. Creams sit on the surface and cannot reach it.
Stretch Marks
Stretch marks are damage to the skin itself. The collagen and elastin in the middle layer tore. That is why the surface looks different but the shape of the leg does not.
Weight is not the whole story for either
Cellulite
Thin people get cellulite. Losing weight can reduce it, and it often does not remove it, because the tethering bands are still there. It is not a measure of body fat or of fitness.
Stretch Marks
Stretch marks are about the speed of the change, not the size of it. Skin can stretch a long way slowly without tearing. It tears when it is asked to do it fast. That is why they show up in teenagers of every size.
What actually helps each one
Cellulite
Cellulite responds best to treatments that reach the bands. Procedures that release or break the tethering bands under a dimple give the clearest results, and they last a year or more. Radiofrequency and acoustic wave devices give a milder, temporary improvement. Building muscle underneath changes the shape of the leg and can make dimples less visible.
Stretch Marks
Stretch marks respond best while they are still red. Prescription retinoids, vascular lasers and microneedling all help at that stage, when the mark is still active. Silver marks are settled scars and improve very little.
Stretch Marks
Daily sunscreen
Two separate jobs here. On new marks it stops ultraviolet light driving longer-lasting color changes, which matters most on deeper skin tones. On mature ones it stops the skin around them tanning, and since white marks contain little pigment and do not tan, keeping the surrounding skin pale is what keeps the contrast down.
1 / 16→
Self-tanner and camouflage makeup
Applied over the marks themselves rather than around them, self-tanner brings pale marks closer to the surrounding color and substantially reduces how visible they are on a given day. Camouflage makeup does the same for a single occasion. Neither changes the scar, and both need repeating, but for mature marks they do more for appearance than most of the creams sold for the purpose.
←2 / 16→
Plain moisturizer
New marks often itch, and scratching adds inflammation to skin that is already inflamed, so a plain moisturizer used regularly is genuinely worth it for comfort. It does not need to be expensive. It has not been shown to prevent stretch marks or to remove them, so treat it as comfort rather than as treatment.
←3 / 16→
Retinol
The over-the-counter version of tretinoin, and weaker. It is a reasonable thing to try on red marks if a prescription is not an option, used nightly over months, but the evidence sits behind tretinoin and the results are smaller. It has nothing to offer white marks, and it is not used in pregnancy.
←4 / 16→
Centella Asiatica (Cica)
Of the massaged preparations sold for prevention in pregnancy, the ones containing centella asiatica or hyaluronic acid have the only supportive evidence, and it is limited and low quality. That is a long way from the claims on the packaging. Low risk, uncertain benefit, reasonable to try and not to rely on.
←5 / 16→
Cocoa butter and oils
Cocoa butter has been tested in randomized trials against a plain placebo cream and did not show a clear benefit for preventing stretch marks. Olive oil and the bio oils sold alongside it are in the same position. They are pleasant to use and they soften itchy skin, and that is the honest reason to buy one.
←6 / 16→
Collagen supplements
Neither collagen supplements nor drinking more water has been shown to prevent stretch marks. The tearing happens in the supportive layer during a rapid stretch under hormonal influence, and nothing taken by mouth has been shown to change that. Family history is doing most of the work here, and no supplement changes it.
←7 / 16→
Fraxel (Nonablative Fractional Laser)
The best-evidenced device for mature white marks, and useful on red ones too. It puts columns of controlled heat into the supportive layer to force a fresh round of collagen remodeling, over three to six sessions spaced weeks apart. Expect partial improvement in texture and how noticeable they are, not removal. On deeper skin tones it is used at conservative settings after a test patch, because of the pigment risk.
←8 / 16→
Microneedling
Fine needles make controlled micro-injuries that prompt new collagen in the scarred layer. Improvement is modest and needs a course of sessions, but it carries a lower risk of leaving dark marks than lasers do, which makes it the more sensible first device on deeper skin tones. It works on both red and white marks.
←9 / 16→
Pulsed Dye Laser (V-Beam)
Targets the widened blood vessels that make new marks red or purple, so it is for the early stage only and does nothing for white ones. It can take the color down over a few sessions. On deeper skin tones it carries a real risk of leaving dark marks behind, so it is used cautiously and after a test patch, if at all.
←10 / 16→
RF Microneedling (Morpheus8)
Microneedling with radiofrequency heat delivered at the needle tips, which reaches deeper into the scarred layer. Reported results are modest improvements in texture and firmness over a course of sessions. Because the energy is not aimed at pigment, it is another option worth discussing on deeper skin tones.
←11 / 16→
Fractional CO2 Laser
An ablative laser that removes columns of skin rather than only heating them, so downtime is longer and the response can be larger. It is the highest-risk option on this page for post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and for thickened scars on the chest, shoulders and upper back, which is why it is not a first choice on deeper skin tones.
←12 / 16→
Excimer Laser
Targeted ultraviolet light used to bring color back into white marks so they blend with the skin around them. It changes the color difference, not the scar, and the effect fades over months unless it is repeated. Narrowband ultraviolet B is used the same way. It is a cosmetic option rather than a repair.
←13 / 16→
Chemical Peel
Medium-depth peels have some evidence for modest improvement in mature marks, mostly when used alongside another treatment rather than on their own. Because they work by controlled injury, the same pigment cautions apply on deeper skin tones, and a test patch is worth insisting on.
←14 / 16→
Microdermabrasion
It polishes the surface layer, and the tear that made the stretch mark is well below that. It is commonly sold as a stretch mark treatment and the published results are minimal. If a clinic is offering this as their answer, it is worth asking what else they do.
←15 / 16→
Tretinoin
The one cream with real evidence behind it, and only on marks that are still red or purple. Used nightly over months it can make new marks narrower and less obvious by prompting collagen while the skin is still remodeling. It irritates, so it is built up slowly. It must not be used in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, which rules out the most common cause of stretch marks.
←16 / 16
Related topic illustrations
Stretch Marks
Vitiligo
Mature stretch marks are lighter than the skin around them, and on deeper skin tones that difference can be striking enough to raise the question. Vitiligo makes patches, not bands — rounded, sharply edged, often mirrored on both sides of the body, and completely milk-white with normal texture inside them. Stretch marks run in parallel lines in the direction the skin was stretched, are only partly lighter, and have a thin, finely wrinkled, slightly sunken surface you can feel.
1 / 2→
Tinea Versicolor
This is the mix-up that turns up in the same person and the same place: pale marks across the shoulders, chest and upper back of a young adult who also has stretch marks there from a growth spurt or from training. Tinea versicolor is a yeast overgrowth, so it makes small oval patches that merge into larger maps, with a fine dust of scale that shows when you scratch it lightly. Stretch marks are straight parallel bands, have no scale, and do not respond to antifungal shampoo — which is the practical test.
←2 / 2
Common questions
Questions Patients Ask
Can you have cellulite and stretch marks in the same place?
Yes, and it is very common on the thighs and buttocks. They are separate things happening in different layers, so having one does not cause the other.
Does losing weight get rid of cellulite?
It often reduces it and rarely removes it. The connective tissue bands that create the dimples are still there whatever your weight, which is why thin people get cellulite too.
Will exercise remove stretch marks?
No. A stretch mark is a scar in the skin, and exercise does not change scar tissue. Building muscle can change the shape of a limb, which sometimes makes marks less noticeable.
Why are my stretch marks red?
Red or purple means the mark is new and still has extra blood flow in it. That is the stage where treatment works best, before it settles to silver.
Do creams for either one work?
Barely. Moisturising improves how skin looks and feels, and that is the honest limit. No cream reaches the tethering bands under cellulite or rebuilds torn collagen in a stretch mark.
Which treatments have the best results?
For cellulite, procedures that release the bands under a dimple. For stretch marks, retinoids, vascular lasers or microneedling while the marks are still red.