Medicated Creams or Gels
Over-the-counter skin medications such as creams or gels can help. If your scar is itchy or sensitive, antihistamine cream may stop the itch while helping your scar heal. Corticosteroid cream can help prevent scarring and has been shown to reduce the appearance of scars over time.
Cocoa butter cream and Vaseline are most often used to help reduce the appearance of scars. Applying the ointment daily will help heal scars but will not make them invisible. Another tip for caring for your scars includes surgery. Surgery will not eliminate the scar but can change its shape or make it less noticeable.
It will take six to 18 months for the scar to have its final appearance. Your scar should gradually soften and fade over these six to 18 months, but will look pink initially (photo B). Some scars never fade. If your scar stays pink after 12 to 18 months please call to discuss options.
Vitamin E. Massaging with vitamin E oils could help reduce collagen build-up, which can help flatten out raised scars. Try massaging for four to five minutes, three or four times a day and see if it works for you.
Scars seem to get worse before they get better. For about six weeks after surgery the scar becomes red, firm and hard. This is the body's way of making a very strong and solid scar. Over the next four months the scar will soften and lose the redness.
These are several types of scars, including: Keloid scars. These are scars that grow bigger than the original wound. Instead of stopping when the skin is healed, the body keeps making collagen for months — or even years — after the injury, creating a raised scar.
Sun exposure can make a scar darker. Repeated exposure increases the risk of developing skin cancer. Keep up your nutrition: Having low levels of vitamin D or C in your system can make scarring worse and you need adequate high quality protein in your diet to help your skin make what is needed to heal.
Lasers and other light treatments: This is becoming the go-to treatment for all types of scars because these treatments can: Prevent raised scars and keloids. Reduce the appearance of existing raised scars and keloids. Decrease scarring after surgery.
Brown has reviewed at least three controlled studies showing no proven benefit when Mederma is used for scar treatment. You would see more benefit from applying lotion or Vaseline to a scar – three times per day for 8 weeks – than you would following the same regimen with Mederma.
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.
Vitamin C is great for helping to minimize the discoloration that is often caused by scarring. Silicone scar gels and strips help to reduce the noticeability of scars that are on the body and by doing this they are working with the discoloration of your skin where there is a scar.
Customers find that the medication provides pain relief and helps with scar closure. They say it works well, is a good value for money, and provides antibacterial protection. Many customers mention that it's the best product for cuts and wounds, as it eases pain and redness and helps heal faster.
Hypertrophic scars that result from burn wounds are more difficult to treat. Superficial burn wounds usually heal without forming hypertrophic scars. Deep burn wounds are harder to treat. Many dermatologic and plastic surgeons treat these by removing the burned area and then using a skin graft.
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.
If your injury requires stitches, follow your doctor's advice on how to care for the wound and when to get the stitches removed. This may help minimize the appearance of a scar. Apply sunscreen to the wound after it has healed. Sun protection may help reduce red or brown discoloration and help the scar fade faster.
Scars can be many colours such as pink, red, purple, white, brown, skin-coloured or darker than the skin around it. They can also be itchy, painful or uncomfortable.
For New Scars: Use Mederma Cream as soon as the wound has healed or stitches have been removed. Continue using it for at least 8 weeks to see noticeable improvements in the appearance of the scar. For Existing Scars: Apply Mederma Cream regularly for 3-6 months to see significant results.
Mederma: Although it is often recommended by physicians, this scar gel, which contains an onion extract, has no solid scientific evidence to support its use. Vitamin E: Although it is commonly used in anti-scarring products, clinical studies are disappointing.
Cho et al. reported that patients with vitamin D deficiency had increased scar pigmentation, decreased epidermal barrier function in scar tissue, and lower scar elasticity and greater scar rigidity compared to non-deficient burn patients.