What is a Scar?
A scar is a natural part of the healing process, resulting from your body repairing a wound in the skin or other tissues of your body. The collagen protein in normal, unscarred tissue lies in a random basketweave formation. But in a scar, the collagen fibers form largely in a single direction. Scar reduction must take into account how healthy tissue differs from scars. When your body makes lots of extra tissue, you’ll see a raised scar. And if the raised scar is bigger than the original wound, it is called a keloid.
If the injury damages the top layer of your skin, you’ll probably see new skin when the wound heals. To repair damage that goes deeper than the first layer, your body makes tissue that is thicker than your skin, and often becomes a scar.
A sunken scar forms after a lot of inflammation in your skin, such as acne or chickenpox. The inflammation has actually destroyed collagen in your skin, and the sunken scar appears during healing.
New scars have a pink to reddish color. As it matures, a scar often turns lighter or darker than your skin. Most scars are flat. In time, some collagen breaks down and the blood supply reduces. The scar gradually becomes smoother, softer, and paler. Although scars are permanent, they can fade over a period of up to two years. It’s unlikely they’ll fade any more after this time. Scar reduction often needs to focus on the first two year after the scar forms.
Prevent scars by proper wound care
You can possibly minimize scarring, or prevent it, when you care for a wound.
First, keep it clean using mild soap and water. Never use hydrogen peroxide, which can damage your skin. Keep out germs and remove debris.
Second, keep the wound moist using petroleum jelly. This helps prevent a scar from getting too large, deep, or itchy. You won’t need to use anti-bacterial ointments if you keep it clean.
Third, after cleaning and applying petroleum jelly, cover with an adhesive bandage. Larger scrapes, sores, burns, and redness may improve with hydrogel or silicone gel sheets.
Fourth, change your bandage daily to keep the wound clean while it heals.
Fifth, get stitches when you need them. Stitches will hold the sides of the wound together and encourage skin healing with less scarring. Follow your doctor’s advice on care and when to get the stitches out.
Sixth, apply sunscreen after the wound has healed to reduce discoloration and help the scar fade faster.
More about scars
Scars are less resistant to ultraviolet radiation, and sweat glands and hair follicles do not grow back within scar tissues. Scar tissue is less elastic than unscarred tissue, and may also be visually unsightly.
You might have scars on any part of your body that has been wounded in any way, the extent of scarring corresponding to the extent of initial damage. A scar may be raised, when the body produces too much collagen in healing, or sunken, as a result of chickenpox, accidents, or even acne. Sunken scars are caused when underlying fat or muscle is lost. Scar reduction needs to take these differences into account.
Not every scar requires treatment
If your scarring makes you uncomfortable, consider treatment. But scars may become less noticeable over time. Treatment can reduce pain and itch, and when a scar reduces your ability to move, treatment may help you regain some movement.
How to remove scar tissue from surgery, naturally
For scar tissue formed in healing from surgery, start to move the body area around to prevent stiffness from setting in. Be sure to get your doctor’s release to do so, as soon as possible after the surgery. Slowly move your arms and legs to restore circulation and dissolve scar tissue.
Stretching helps restore normal tissue length. For instance, after breast augmentation, stretch the pectoral area and the shoulders. After a C-section, stretch your abdominals. After knee surgery, stretch your quadriceps and hamstrings.
Massage therapy can help dissolve and reduce scar tissue. Once a week or so, see a certified massage therapist who will know the correct amount of pressure to apply without damaging tissue. The week delay between sessions will allow your body to filter out inflammatory materials developed during the massage.
Exercise. You will need to restore the proper range of motion around your joints. It will take time.
Scar reduction
Because a scar is an injury to the dermis, or inner layer of skin, it is possible to remove the epidermis (outer layer) through chemical peels or mechanical and laser methods like dermabrasion or SmartSkin CO2 Fraxel, allowing new skin to regrow normally. Because scars result from collagen fibers that lie unnaturally in a single direction, treatment will involve disrupting that alignment. Restoring healthy collagen formation will include a chemical or mechanical treatment of that inner layer of skin.
Sunken scars can benefit from injections of dermal fillers. Raised scars can be more problematic, and you will want to chat with Dr. Nangrani about how to reduce and heal them.
Call 281-298-5476 to book your free consultation with Dr. Nangrani and our Spa Director. Together, you will discuss your expectations and design a treatment plan.
Our clients are our top priority here at Vedas, located in The Woodlands, Texas. Vedas is only minutes from I45 (Houston’s North Freeway) in The Woodlands.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP)
What is acne?
Skin resurfacing
Collagen
SmartSkin CO2 Fraxel
Venus Viva
Photos: istock
