Massaging the scar with Vitamin E Oil, Mederma™, or other lotions can help soften the scar. For some scars that are tending to thicken, your doctor may suggest an injection of a medication such as Kenalog™ into the scar.
Apply a water based cream, such as aqueous cream or E45 hand cream to the scar. Use the pads of your fingers to massage the scar and tissue around the scar. Massage in all directions. Apply as much pressure as you can without it hurting, beginning with light pressure and moving to deeper and firmer pressure.
It can harden, shrink, and interfere with normal tissue mobility. Does that mean you have to live with damaged tissue for the rest of your life? Not exactly. While some scar tissue will never go away, oftentimes, if treated properly, the injured tissue can be remolded to resemble normal, healthy tissue.
There are many types of therapies for scar tissue, but the standard treatment commonly involves exercise and massage — specifically, stretching and pulling the scar tissue to soften, align and elongate it.
Scarring can be reduced when scar tissue is broken down through massage. Scarring occurs for a variety of reasons. The most common causes of scarring is injury and surgery.
For best results, you should perform scar massage for at least 10 minutes, twice a day, for six months. You should only stop sooner than that if the scar starts showing signs of infection or you experience intolerable discomfort.
Massage. Deep tissue massage and cross-friction massage are two manual therapies that improve mobility, promote healing, break up existing scar tissue, and help prevent it from forming. Scar tissue massage also helps with those aches and pains that develop when tight areas and adhesions impede healthy movement.
Heat can reduce pain and improve elasticity of collagen fibers making scar tissue easier to mobilize. Paraffin combines the element of heat and skin lubrication, which are both useful for mobilization. Hot packs: The use of a heat pack on the scarred area can help increase the overall blood flow.
Another great treatment that we have is rapid release technologies vibration therapy. What this does, this vibrates at certain frequency, and helps break up scar tissue adhesions.
Lemon/Lime Juice: Place lemon or lime juice on the scar with a cloth. Let this sit for a few minutes on the skin before washing it off. The acidic qualities of the juice help remove dead skin cells along the scar and can lessen the redness or appearance of scars.
A keloid scar is a thick raised scar. It can occur wherever you have a skin injury but usually forms on earlobes, shoulders, cheeks or the chest. If you're prone to developing keloids, you might get them in more than one place.
Scar tissue may become hard and raised. Massage is a way of softening and flattening scars and reducing the adhesions between the different layers of the tissue, making the scar tissue more flexible. It can also help alleviate any itching and over-sensitivity of the scar.
It is recommended to perform scar massage on a daily basis to have the greatest affect on scar development, pain reduction, and scar mobility.
Use Vaseline® Jelly for Scars
By sealing in moisture it also helps to reduce dryness of scarred skin, once your skin has healed. This may help to improve the appearance of scars, making the skin look smoother and softer, as well as help to reduce itchiness caused by dryness.
Skin grafts, excision, dermabrasion, and laser surgery are some of the options. The surgeon utilizes skin from another part of your body in a skin graft. This is a common treatment for burn victims. If you have scarring that is interfering with your ability to function, surgery may be able to assist.
Applying a silicone dressing such as Scarguard™, or any variety of silicone sheet “Scar Treatment” bandage (available at most drugstores) at night will help many scars flatten out and soften.
After an acute injury, ice should be used to minimize swelling for the first two to three days. After this period, heat can be used to increase blood flow and assist the natural healing process.
silicone dressings or gels. steroid injections or cream. cryotherapy (a treatment to freeze the scar)
Many lay people use vitamin E on a regular basis to improve the outcome of scars and several physicians recommend topical vitamin E after skin surgery or resurfacing.
Application of a triple antibiotic ointment (such as over-the-counter Bacitracin, Neosporin or Polysporin) three times a day to the wound for a full three weeks helps prevent infection and creates a better foundation for improved long-term scar appearance.
Laser therapy
There are two types of laser therapies for treating scar tissue: ablative and nonablative. A doctor will use ablative laser therapy to flatten scar tissue. Nonablative laser therapy can disrupt the blood supply in the scar tissue, which will eventually kill off the abnormal tissue.
Scar Sensitivity: If your scar is hypersensitive, gently rub different textures on your scar daily for 2 minutes each. Begin with soft textures (cotton, silk) and progress to rough textures (denim, Velcro, towels). You can also desensitize your scar by immersing the scar in a container of dried rice or pinto beans.