Restorative Treatment for Scars

Your skin covers the entire outside of your body, and a lot of it is visible to others. When you have skin damage or an injury to the skin, it is almost always evident to others. Scars can be very hard to conceal or cover and can also damage your self-esteem. Skin damage is caused by many things, including surgery, piercings, burns, and cuts. Injuries result in unsightly scars that people often want to fade or make go away. Luckily, there are treatments that can help.

First, know what type of scar you have and how it got there. Also, your race, genetics, and age play a large part in how your body forms scars. Let’s take a look at the different types of scars.

Types of Scars

Acne Scars – Acne scars are formed from the inflammation and excess collagen the skin produces to heal acne. These scars can appear very deep and pitted. They can also show up in angled waves. Acne scars can be treated with microdermabrasion to remove old skin cells and the use of a good quality moisturizer to regenerate the skin.

Hypertrophic Scars – These scars form when skin damage goes deep into the skin.

The skin begins to produce extremely large amounts of collagen to form large, thick red scars. They remain only at the site of injury but can thicken over time. These scars are most common in dark-skinned people. They tend to affect self-image, and people go to great lengths to hide them. Dermatologists can inject these scars with steroids or perform laser surgery on them to reduce their appearance.

Contracture Scars – These are very deep scars brought on by burns to the skin. They often can extend into the tissue and affect the muscles. They tend to get very inflamed and are painful. Steroid shots can help reduce the pain and inflammation.

Keloid Scars – Keloid scars can grow beyond the boundary of a wound and cause pain and discomfort. They feel like rubber and are pink in color. They tend to occur more often in darker skinned people. They can be caused by body piercings, cuts, and acne. Prevention of injury is important in people prone to keloid scarring. If an injury occurs, begin treatment right away and keep the wound covered during healing. Then apply moisturizer often to prevent excess collagen from forming.

Other Treatments

Treatment in a doctor’s office is considered cosmetic and may not be covered by insurance. Hypertrophic and keloid scarring may be covered only because they cause pain. The doctor may be able to use steroids to relieve discomfort and reduce inflammation.

If a scar is small and not painful, it can usually be treated with special creams or gels designed to treat scars. The best types are silicone based that both cover and provide moisture to the area of the scar.

Scars that are very large and deep may possibly be reduced with silicone gel treatments, but it will take time. Removing deeper scars requires a commitment to treatment and the understanding that the only other option may be laser treatments or microdermabrasion. With time, scars fade, and become less apparent.

A Brief Overview of Scars

Scars and What to do about Them

Scars are made up of bands of fibrous tissues generated in order to heal a skin injury. As soon as you sustain an open wound to the skin, your body begins a biological process of repairing the injury to the tissues. Scars are actually a sign that your body has healed itself. Smaller wounds may never scar, but most wounds resulting from surgery, injury or disease cause some type of scarring.

Causes of scars include burns, injuries, surgery, acne, and chicken pox. Tattoos also may cause scarring to the skin, along with certain skin conditions and severe rashes. How bad the scarring is depends on how bad the wound or injury is. For instance, chicken pox can cause very deep, pronounced impressions in the skin.

How Do Scars Form?

When your body forms a scar, your body is doing its job healing the injury. As soon as the injury or opening happens, your body releases collagen to begin closing up the wound. Collagen is a protein that forms fibers to close up the opening in the skin. In the beginning, the collagen forms a crusty layer called a scab that protects the wound from outside air and infection. The body continues to form collagen, and once the scar forms, the scab falls off. After this happens, you can see where this all took place in the form of a scar.

The Effects Of Age And Ethnicity On Scars

Scar tissue forms at different rates and severity according to age. In younger, healthier skin, the process of wound healing is much stronger. In older people, scars tend to be thicker and more noticeable. This is the result of less moisture on the skin surface. There are other factors that affect scarring, including the location of the wound, ethnicity, and genetic factors. Even though they have young skin, kids tend to be more susceptible to skin wounds because of their active nature.

Kids and fair-skinned people are very prone to hypertrophic scars. People of African and Asian descent are more susceptible to keloid scars. Hypertrophic scars and keloid scars tend to look very much alike. Keloid scars can be very large and grow bigger than the original size of the injury to the skin. Where the wound is located also affects how big the scar is. Scars that form on shoulders or knees tend to become wider due to movement of the joint.

Ways to Treat Scars

Understand that scars are permanent and will never completely disappear. It is possible, however, to fade and smooth the appearance of a scar. The best treatment is the application of an ointment that locks in moisture to the skin and encourages healing and healthy tissue regeneration. Severe scarring can be treated with cosmetic surgery. It is important to begin treatment to scars as soon as possible. Good wound care encourages fast healing with little scarring. It is important to keep the wound clean, dry and moisturized. Never pick at scabs because this breaks up the collagen and can cause an infection in the wound.

Scars Heal with Time

Over time, scars fade and decrease in size. In order to reduce the scar’s appearance, more treatment is needed. Surgical, hypertrophic, keloid, and injury scars need to have an occlusive moisture barrier applied. Treatment for acne scars depends on how bad the scarring is. Burn scars that are severe may need skin grafts if home treatment does not work. Doctors usually have patients try scar creams first and then reevaluate after treatment.

Surgical Repair of Scars

If scarring is severe, surgeons can repair the scar with a surgery known as scar revision. This surgery will not remove the scar but can make it less noticeable. This is most often used on long or very wide scars. This procedure does not work on keloid scars, because the trauma of surgery will cause other keloid scars to form. Doctors may also have to follow a scar revision with steroid injections to prevent further scarring.

Steroid Injections to Heal Scars

Keloid and hypertrophic scars may benefit from steroid injections. Steroids reduce inflammation and can fade the redness and thick appearance of the scar. Corticosteroids can also reduce itching and make the scar appear more flat.

Cryosurgery for Scar Healing

Doctors can freeze scar tissue using a nitrous oxide probe. Cryosurgery can reduce the appearance of keloid and hypertrophic scars.

Dermabrasion for Scars

Dermabrasion rubs off the top layer of skin and scar tissue by using an instrument with a rough surface. This is most often used for acne scarring.

Silicone Gel Patches for Scars

A silicone gel patch is an over-the-counter treatment that can be placed onto a scar to lock in moisture. This can fade the scar and give it a smoother appearance.

Home Remedies For Scars

Home remedies for scars include vitamin E oil, cocoa butter, and aloe vera gel. These can be bought over the counter.

Check with your doctor or surgeon before beginning a home treatment for scarring.

Cocoa butter, a type of fat obtained from cacao seeds, is found in many body lotions.
Vitamin E oil can be purchased in bottles or squeezed from vitamin capsules directly.
Aloe vera comes from an African plant and can be bought over the counter as aloe vera gel.

These things reduce the appearance of scars, but time is important. Never start a scar treatment until the wound has closed.

It is also important to rub scar tissue gently to keep adhesions from forming. Adhesions happen when the fibrous bands of scar tissue stick to healthy tissue and result in a pulling feeling. Massage scar tissue for a good two minutes, and then apply a thin layer of the scar treatment of your choice. With good skin care, scars heal faster, and you will see better results!

Scar Treatments

Scar Formation & Treatment

Whenever there is a break in the skin, your body sends healing materials to the site to begin the repair of damage. Just about every time you injure your skin this happens, but sometimes it is more noticeable than others. Scars are a very natural part of your body healing itself, and the healing material your body sends out to seal the skin up is a very fibrous and rough form of tissue.

Your body automatically knows to hurry and seal up wounds to prevent infection. Certain types of skin trauma that can cause infection in the body are: surgery, cuts, acne, chemical burns, and certain diseases. There are also other factors that affect scars, including: heredity, skin color, age, and health. Most scars lighten over time and become mostly unnoticeable.

However, there are some scars that do need help. Treatments can help major forms of scars become less visible or even almost disappear. These include costly treatments such as laser therapy, surgery, and chemicals. Not only are these costly, but they also can have some side effects. There are also natural home remedies that are less expensive and very safe to use. Before you decide on the treatment you need, it is always best to match up treatments with the type of scar you have. Here is a list of treatments for various types of scars:

Keloid Scarring Treatment

A keloid scar is one of the most unsightly scars you can have. These scars form when too much healing tissue is deposited in the wound. They are most common in darker skinned people and result from surgery, piercings, injuries, and acne. They are more visible because they become larger than the original wound. They can cause people to have self-esteem issues.

Such scars can be very hard to remove and require time and patience to treat. Many people don’t want to take the time and opt for surgical removal. However, safe home treatments have been found to be effective on keloids if used over a long period of time. These treatments include products that contain 100% pure medical grade silicone, good moisturizers and nutrients to feed the skin.

Surgical procedures can be very costly and sometimes cause trauma that results in the regrowth of the keloid. Using home-based treatments can also help to prevent new keloid formation.

Plastic Surgery Scar Treatment

Sometimes plastic surgery, done to improve appearance, can leave scars. Surgeons make every attempt to place these scars behind body parts so they won’t be visible. Some scars cannot be hidden and need treatment. The most recommended treatment for plastic surgery scars is a silicone-based product applied to the scar daily and over time to heal and fade it.

Creams for Scars

Any type of scar will benefit from a moisturizing and nourishing cream designed to help with skin repair. These creams should contain the right ingredients to help relieve inflammation and redness in the area so that they are not as visible. Make sure you find a scar cream that contains moisturizers and vitamins but not a lot of water. Just using scar creams alone can leave the skin with a greasy feeling, but they have no other side effects.

Silicone Gel Scar Treatment

100% pure medical grade silicone is one of the most common and best products for scar treatment at home. The silicone closes up the skin and holds in moisture to promote healing.

It is a less costly product and helps prevent your body from developing too much collagen in the wound area. It can also help keep keloids smaller or prevent them from forming altogether. Silicone can also prevent dirt and bacteria from entering the wound and causing infection. There is less swelling and redness, and the wound stays moist for good healing.

Silicone actually helps the skin slough off dead tissue naturally and rebuild itself with healthy, glowing new tissue!