Burn Scars Information

Saying Goodbye to Burn Scars

Burn scars are very traumatic and can severely affect self-esteem and quality of life. Moving on from burn injuries can be very stressful, and reducing the appearance of burn scars is the first step in healing. Getting the proper burn scars information helps get you started on the path to feeling better about yourself and also helps you begin a fresh new life with better looking skin.

Burn scars leave marks on the skin that can be hard to deal with, and you may have a hard time going out in public or socializing with friends. Many people who suffer from these marks only avoid others because they don’t want to answer questions about the initial injuries. The good news is burn scars can be treated with several effective treatments. Reducing their appearance can help you say goodbye to burn scars and increase your confidence and quality of life.

Time to Heal Burn Scars

Burn scars can be treated over time, but this depends on how severe the burn was and how long it has been since the original injury. The more time that passes after a burn injury occurs, the harder it is to heal the scar.

If a burn scar is old, it will take a long period of time to heal. Starting treatment as soon as the injury occurs dramatically reduces the time needed to fade the scar. There are many different treatments that can effectively fade and reduce the appearance of burn scars.

Tips for Treating Burn Scars

It is possible to treat burn scars with over-the-counter scar creams and gels, medical treatments and chemical peels. Consult with a specialist as soon as burn injuries are well healed. A dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon can evaluate the depth of the scar and recommend the best treatment.

If the scarring is severe, the doctor may recommend surgery, laser treatments, drugs, medications, or microdermabrasion to help smooth the skin and restore healthy new skin cells.

Costs vary with the type of procedure and the amount of treatments necessary.
If your scarring is minimal to even moderate, you may be sent home with a recommendation for cost-effective, over-the-counter treatments.

All-Natural Remedies

You can treat mild to moderate burn scars with safe and effective all-natural treatments. When you use natural remedies for burn scars, you can reduce the redness of scar tissue and have healthy looking, smoother skin. These types of treatments have no side effects, and they are relatively inexpensive compared to pricey medical treatments. One popular treatment option is Scarinex. This product has been proven to be very effective in reducing burn scars and many other types of scars.

The most important part of treating burn scars is to begin treatment as soon as possible with a formula that contains healthy nutrients to feed the skin, ingredients to exfoliate and something to increase moisture to the skin and lock it in.

Using the best product yields the best results and helps you recover from burn scars and feel better about yourself.

Laser Treatment

Many people who suffer from severe scars look for ways to remove them. With the numerous scar treatments available, it is often hard to discern which one will work best. Scar removal can dramatically reduce a scar but never completely removes scar tissue. Regardless of how effective scar removal is, people still want invasive scar removal procedures done for cosmetic reasons. Laser treatment is one type of scar removal that can take care of severe scars.

Laser Treatment for Scars

Laser treatment for scar removal can help diminish large scars. Performed by a physician, it is a type of surgery in which a laser is directed at the scar and any tissue surrounding the scar. Since this is an invasive procedure, doctors usually don’t elect to do this treatment unless all other scar removal methods have failed.

Laser treatments are done by a trained professional who points a laser beam at the scarred area.This is a very powerful and focused beam of light energy that sloughs off the outer layer of skin.

After the treatment, the skin appears renewed and softer. With treatments, the new layer of skin will regenerate and fade the scar. Treatment also causes the skin to appear smoother. The laser can help the skin produce collagen and stimulate the healing of scar tissue. It may take a number of laser treatments over time in order to fade the scar. How bad the scar is dictates the number of treatments and the cost of therapy.

Finding Out if you are a Candidate for Laser Treatment

Laser treatments for scar removal are not for everyone. You will have to be evaluated by a doctor, and it depends on the severity of the scarring and your skin color and condition. People who have fair skin tend to have a better experience with laser treatment of scars. Those with dark skin have less luck with this type of treatment.

Some areas are too dark for the skin to heal properly, and some skin conditions, such as dermatitis, psoriasis or eczema, are contradicted in laser treatments due to the risk of skin damage.

Preparing for Laser Treatment Scar Removal

When getting ready for laser treatment scar removal, there are a few things you must do before going to the doctor. Preparations alleviate side effects and complications from the procedure.

At your first appointment, ask the doctor what preparations are required and if any follow-up care is needed. Make sure you understand what medications are allowed before undergoing laser treatment.

It is important to know if any medications can cause complications during the treatment, such as blood thinners, aspirin and other medications that can raise risks. Ask the professional performing the treatment if there is a risk of more scar tissue forming and how effective the treatment for scar removal may be.

This is so you can carefully consider your options before spending a large amount of money. There are times when laser treatment isn’t completely effective in removing all of a scar. You will notice the scar has lightened significantly. It may be much smoother but not completely gone.

Laser treatment for scar removal is a big commitment, and it is really important to try less invasive treatments first and stick with them for as long as you can. If they are not effective enough for your severity of scarring, find out all you can about laser procedures and understand them before you jump in.

Preventive Care

Preventive Care to Keep Nasty Scars away

Skin is your body’s main form of protection from invaders and damage. When you get a scar, your body is sealing up to protect your insides. Scars are the natural buildup of fibrous tissue formed from collagen. Collagen is released as soon as an injury occurs and the body works to close up the open area. Scars are unsightly and can be uncomfortable. The best way to prevent scars is to take action as soon as possible after an injury. Preventive care only takes a little time, and the benefits are worth it!

Taking care of wounds properly is the first and most important part of preventive care. Keep the wound clean and dry. Flush new wounds with water, and make sure all dirt is removed from the wound bed. Clean daily with mild soap and water. Keep a sterile bandage over the wound to keep it clean.

You can use an antibacterial cream to prevent infection. After the wound closes, begin to apply a silicone-based gel to lock in moisture and encourage healthy tissue regeneration. Your body will send a constant stream of white blood cells to the area for quite some time. This causes the first fibrous tissue in the wound bed and shows up as a scab. They don’t look very good and can be itchy. Make sure you don’t pick at scabs, as this will cause more fibrous tissue to form and make the scar appear worse. This can also cause an infection in the skin.

Preventive Care For Different Types Of Scars

Scars are a natural part of healing even with small injuries. Every scar is different in size and the way they look. How you scar depends on your ethnic background, genetics, age, and health and where the injury is. Whatever the type of scar, it is important to start treatment right away to prevent it from getting out of control and to help the skin heal properly.

Some scars are very small, flat, and light in color. These can be covered, and treatment is very effective in reducing these minor scars. Other scars can be very red, raised, and possibly larger than the wound bed. These are known as either hypertrophic or keloid scars. They can be itchy and painful. Preventive care for these types of scars includes protecting the skin from any injury. Avoid piercings, and if you need surgery, let your surgeon know that you are at risk for keloid scars. If you do receive an injury, avoid any heavy lifting, exercise and strain on the skin areas.

No matter what type of injury you sustain, there is never a guarantee that you won’t receive a lasting scar. The best preventive care is to protect your skin and begin wound care immediately after an injury.

Scar Reduction

Scar reduction aims at preventing scars from becoming worse. Use a good sunscreen when going out in the sun to prevent discoloration to the scar tissue. Since scar tissue is a different color than the skin, tanning will make it stand out. Sunburns can also make scars look worse and increase the scar tissue when the sunburn heals.

You will also want to look into the numerous scar creams available that contain nutrients that can nourish scarred skin. Look for ingredients like cocoa butter, vitamin E, and aloe vera. Make sure scar creams do not contain a lot of water that dilutes the important ingredients. You can also try to cover the scar with a silicone gel sheet to lock in moisture during the healing process. Silicone products can reduce the redness, appearance and size of a scar.

During treatment, try a good concealer with a shade of green to balance out the redness. Yellow can help, but may not be good for darker skin tones. People with darker skin tones can try coloring their skin around the scar to help it blend in naturally. This procedure can be costly and is permanent, so liquid concealers are sometimes a better option.

Acne scars, pitted scars or chicken pox marks can be filled in with collagen injections. More than one treatment is required, and they are quite costly. Doctors can also inject steroids to reduce inflammation, fade redness, and help smooth and flatten the scar areas. These are quite costly and require multiple treatments.

To smooth the skin, also try microdermabrasion or dermabrasion. These treatments exfoliate the top layer of skin and flatten scar tissue. They can be done with a machine or a scrub with small granules a few times a week. There are kits that can be used at home, or the treatment can be done in a spa or dermatologist’s office.

Lastly, scar reduction can be done by surgery or laser treatments. These are very invasive and require some downtime. For these reasons, preventive care is very important at the beginning of an injury.

What Causes Scars?

Causes of Scars

Many people ask their doctors, “What causes scars?” The answer is usually quite simple: Your body is healing from an injury, and once a scar appears, your body has just closed a wound. The body has an amazing ability to send healing cells to the site of an open wound, closing it up quickly so that bacteria does not enter the body. If the skin cells were produced exactly as they were before, the wound would take a long time to close. Therefore, the cells that close the wound tend to appear just a little different than those originally in the area.

Unfortunately, many people are very self-conscious about scars. It is important to understand that when your skin’s surface sustains an injury and heals, it may never completely go back to its original appearance. The healing cells tend to make a different kind of skin that looks different in color and texture. Some scars are more noticeable than others, but the bottom line is the body is doing its job. Scars are made up of certain proteins and collagen that make up the surface of the skin. The tissue that scars are made of tends to be more sensitive to sunlight, does not generate hair growth, and is different in color than the rest of the skin.

There are many types of treatments to reduce the appearance of scars. Finding the right treatment depends on the type of injury and scar that occurred. While it is impossible to completely get rid of a scar, they do fade, sometimes dramatically. They eventually become smaller and lighter; it just takes time.

What are the Different Types of Scars?

Keloid Scars – Keloid scars come from an overproduction of collagen at the site of a wound after it has healed.

This in turn causes large areas of scar tissue to grow over and outside the area of the original wound. These scars tend to be more common in people with darker skin.

Keloid scars can be treated with steroid injections in the areas of scarring. Steroids are an anti-inflammatory that can reduce the appearance of redness and help with itching.

People who develop keloids need to understand that once they occur, they can occur again in the same area or at the sites of new injuries.

Hypertrophic Scars – Hypertrophic scars do not grow outside the borders of the wound bed and tend to heal on their own in a year’s time or more. Hypertrophic scars are tougher and redder than normal scars, and they often need steroids to heal or corrective surgery.

Contracture Scars – When there is a large loss of skin tissue, scars may form that attempt to “pull” the sides of the wound together to close it. The pulling appearance of these scars gives them the name contracture. Most of these types of scars require a cosmetic surgeon to perform a Z-plasty in order to graft new skin or form a flap to correctly close the wound.

Facial Scars – When the face receives a wound that scars it and changes its appearance, surgeons can remove the scar tissue and make a few small stitches to leave a smaller scar. Dermatologists can also perform dermabrasion that softens and leaves the skin smoother. However, facial scars do not completely go away with these treatments.

Examples Of Scar Treatments

Types of Scar Treatments

ׁIf you are thinking about having scars treated to diminish their appearance, you will first need to determine the best treatment for your scar type. Treatments depend on how the injury occurred, how deep the wound was, the wound’s size, and your age and health. Here are some common examples of scar treatments:

Injections

Dermatologists can inject scar tissue with cortisone, a steroid that reduces inflammation and swelling. This can flatten and lighten the appearance of large raised scars, such as hypertrophic and keloid scars. The steroids soften the scar tissue so it can become smaller. Another type of injection uses collagen fillers, hyaluronic acid, or fat to help fill in the area of scarring so it blends in with the natural surrounding tissue.

This helps for deep scars. Regardless of the type of scar, injections do not heal scars permanently, and you may need multiple treatments over time.

Laser Procedure

Using a laser to treat scars can help lighten their appearance and flatten the scarred areas. Lasers work with carbon dioxide or pulsed dye and a very intense light beam that actually alters scar tissue to help remove it. Technicians can also perform laser resurfacing on the skin, which actually helps relieve a lot of the discomfort associated with scar tissue, such as pain, itching, and burning. Laser treatments are quite costly, and they require a number of sessions over time to see results.

Scar Removal Treatments

Scar removal involves removing the actual damaged and scarred tissues and encourages the healthy growth of new skin in the area. Some of these treatments are minimally invasive, but some involve highly invasive procedures like surgery. Here is a list of scar removal treatments:

Chemical Peels – This involves using a type of acid on the skin to take off the first few layers chemically. The skin sloughs off, and new skin is generated to create a smoother appearance. There is a few days’ healing time, and the treatments cause reddened skin initially.

Dermabrasion – Dermabrasion takes off layers of skin by using a rough substance or a wire brush.

Special scrubs with granules or brush kits can be bought and used at home.

Cryosurgery – The skin is frozen, and then dermabrasion is used to remove dead skin cells.

Punch Excision – A skin punch is used to remove certain areas of skin, and then skin can be grafted over the area.

Surgical Removal – The area just around the initial scar is removed, and then the skin is sewn back together to create a smaller scar.

Home Treatment

There are treatments you can buy in drugstores over the counter to use at home. These contain ingredients that help moisturize, heal, and reduce the appearance of scars.

These include silicone-based creams and sheets that can be used on scars. They are generally very safe for use but can be costly.

Costs of Scar Treatments

Some medical scar treatments can be very costly, and health insurance usually does not cover them if they are only for cosmetic reasons. There have been cases in which insurance covered scar treatments that were medically necessary. If you had a traumatic accident or breast surgery, scar treatments may be covered. For instance, if a large area of your skin is burned in a fire, skin grafts and scar removal are necessary, so that your skin can do its job properly.

If a scar is just bothersome and you don’t want to look at it, then you will most likely have to pay out of pocket for treatment. This is why it is important to find the best treatment for your needs.