Had a friend who was a plastic surgeon / did all body improvement treatments etc. I was put on a medication that caused me to get a TON of thin long stretch marks fucking everywhere in like a 3 month timeframe (Arms, delts/Shoulder, thighs, behind knees, entire "trunk" sides, under arms, and finally near pecs and frontal of belly) i was already in great workout definition and shape (6'1 180lbs male 26yrs old) They just came on regardless...

Well he offered to work me over for free with the cold-snap whatever giant laser system. I did twice monthly FOR A YEAR. For someone with no pain tolerance it can be really bad - I tried to be macho man and never tapped out until he was simply tired of working. Id say it's anywhere between a LARGE rubberband popping you and someone burning you with the metal on a heated up Bic lighter. The week or so immediately after treatment the stretch marks are super red and bright, then return to what they regularly looked like.

After a year they had MINIMALLY shrunk in WIDTH not length or visibility - it took 3 years later and they kinda go completely silver and BARELY noticeable with a nice tan but the scars are forever til we have different technology or you remove the skin area :[. This really affected my self-esteem as an always healthy/beachgoer with full muscle definition but you learn to face the facts :[.

It's all psychological these days as no one seems to notice BUT I still feel like a walking stretch mark billboard :[. Just a perspective from someone who got MASSIVE amounts of treatments for a year I could never had afforded without it being a friends gift/experiment to take before/after pics to market for the treatments. It was something like 350-750$ for an hour full body. If you get stretch marks the real battle is with yourself psychologically not what others see or think.