Cuts and wounds shouldn’t have to mark you for life that’s why I’ve decided to talk about the latest treatments for the removal of old scars and prevention of new ones.
If you’re like most people, you possess a few battle scars: lifelong mementos of the time you wiped out on your bike at age six, the knee surgery you had in college, a latter run-in with a paring knife. “Any skin damage that’s more serious than a simple cut or scrape will produce a scar,” states David J. Leffell, M.D., a professor of dermatology and surgery at Yale School of Medicine and author of Total Skin (Hyperion, 2000). Made mainly of collagen, a protein fiber commonly found in the skin’s second layer, these scars are the body’s way of repairing itself.
Fortunately, many scars will fade in time. For those that don’t, new procedures like laser therapies can minimize them significantly. But your best bet is prevention. According to Dr. Leffell, treating wounds quickly and properly will go a long way in decreasing the appearance and development of scars.
A scar is a mark left on the skin after a surface injury or wound has healed. The human organism was created to withstand and survive a variety of wounds by surrounding them and protecting the body from further infection. All of these incidents set into motion an orderly sequence of events that are involved in the healing response, in which healthy skin is replaced by a scar.
When the skin is wounded a variety of different cells come immediately to the aid of the wounded area and the complex healing process begins. This is the body’s natural way of protecting itself from harm. However this innate protective process usually leaves behind scarring evidence.
Dos and Don’ts for Keeping Scars at Bay
DON’T cleanse wounds with hydrogen peroxide. “The bubbles make it look like something good is happening, but hydrogen peroxide is famous to kill the new skin cells that immediately begin to grow,” says Dr. Leffell.
DO cover a wound. Allowing a fresh cut to “breathe” is an old wives’ tale that will actually delay healing by as much as 50 percent. “Moisture avoids the formation of a hard scab, which acts as a defense to the formation of new tissue,” says dermatologist Bruce Katz, M.D., an associate clinical professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and director of Juva Skin and Laser Center in New York City. He advises treating the damaged area daily with an antibiotic ointment like Neosporin (which will prevent infection, another hindrance to healing) and keeping it covered with a bandage. After a week, switch to plain Vaseline petroleum jelly, and continue using it underneath the bandage until new skin grows over the wound.
DON’T apply vitamin E. Despite what your grandmother may have said to you, vitamin E has been shown in a University of Miami study to deteriorate wound healing. (In addition, one-third of the patients tested also suffered an allergic reaction.)
DO keep constant pressure on the injury with special bandages or silicone sheeting pads. Several studies have demonstrated that coverings like these help to flatten scars-including keloids, scars with hard tissue that grows impetuously over their original boundaries. (Though it’s not known why, darker-skinned people are more prone to this type of scar.) To try: Curad Scar Therapy Cosmetic Pads, ReJuveness Pure Silicone Sheeting, Scar Fx and Syprex Scar Sheets.
DON’T expose new scars to the sun. UV radiation can slow the healing process and, since they stimulate melanocytes (the cells that produce pigment), can cause dark coloration. When you’re outdoors, always slather on a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher.
Scars are a part of everyday life. No one is free of having fallen off their bike when they were learning how to ride or having lived their entire life without having to submit themselves to some sort of cut or surgery, or just having knicked themselves will shaving. The problem isn’t the scar itself. If you really think about it having gone through life without a single scar might just mean that you haven’t lived at all. The problem is scar treatment. So don’t be afraid to live just because you may get a “battle wound”, treat it, investigate and trust products that aid your skin’s natural repair process with safe ingredients.
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- Angelique Jodein